Bharat Agarwal C/O Acelegal vs. Asst. Commissioner, GST And Central Excise Commissionerate, Div- Ii

Held

The Court was informed by the learned counsel for both parties that the proceedings pursuant to the show cause notice have been dropped by the respondent authorities. Consequently, the notices do not survive. In light of this development, the Court held that the petitions have been worked out and are accordingly disposed of. The reasoning is that the action challenged by the petitioners has been withdrawn by the respondent, thus resolving the dispute that formed the basis of the writ petitions. The operative direction is the disposal of the petitions as worked out.

Facts

The petitioners, including Ritika Agarwal, filed several writ petitions before the Bombay High Court challenging actions by the Assistant Commissioner GST and Central Excise Commissionerate. The core issue revolved around the liability of advocates to pay service tax. An interim order had been granted in these petitions on February 3, 2021. The petitioners' counsel informed the court that a similar petition, Writ Petition (Lodg.) No. 646 of 2021, was withdrawn by the petitioners because the revenue authorities had dropped the show cause notice. The respondent's counsel confirmed this factual assertion but stated that the interim order in the present petitions prevented them from deciding whether to take similar action.

Key Issues

1. Whether the present writ petitions have become infructuous in light of the show cause notices being dropped by the respondent authorities. The Petitioner's contention is that since the proceedings pursuant to the show cause notice have been dropped by the respondent authorities, the notices no longer survive, rendering the writ petitions infructuous. The Respondent's contention, as recorded in the order, is that while they confirm the factual assertion that the show cause notice proceedings have been dropped, the interim order previously granted in these petitions prevented them from proceeding to decide whether to take a similar course of action (dropping the show cause notice).