M/S Aw Xcacon vs. Principal Commissioner

Facts

The petitioner, M/s Aw Xcacon, filed a writ petition before the High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur. The petitioner sought a direction to the respondent authorities to issue a Discharge Certificate in Form SVLDRS-4. This arose after an Audit Memo dated June 26, 2019, which directed the petitioner to deposit Rs. 85,00,000/-. The petitioner claims that the dispute was settled under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019, and a sum of Rs. 42,54,071/- was deposited. Despite this, the Discharge Certificate was not issued. The respondents, through their counsel, submitted that the Discharge Certificate in Form SVLDRS-4 had already been issued to the petitioner on April 7, 2022.

Held

The Court noted the submission made by the learned counsel for the respondents that the Discharge Certificate in Form SVLDRS-4 had already been issued to the petitioner on April 7, 2022. Consequently, the Court found that the grievance raised in the writ petition no longer survived. The Court held that the petition had become infructuous due to the subsequent issuance of the Discharge Certificate. The petitioner was granted liberty to take recourse to law if any further issues arose. The interim relief, if any, granted earlier was vacated, and no order as to costs was made. The operative direction was to dispose of the petition as infructuous.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to a direction for the issuance of a Discharge Certificate in Form SVLDRS-4 under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019, given the deposit made by the petitioner? (Question of law) Petitioner's contention: The petitioner argued that following the introduction of the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019, the dispute stood settled. They had deposited the requisite amount of Rs. 42,54,071/- as per the scheme. Despite this settlement and deposit, the competent authority had failed to issue the Discharge Certificate in Form SVLDRS-4, necessitating the present petition for a direction to issue it expeditiously. Respondent's contention: The respondents contended that the Discharge Certificate in Form SVLDRS-4 had already been issued in favour of the petitioner on April 7, 2022. Therefore, the grievance raised in the present petition no longer survived, and the petition had consequently become infructuous.