Industrial And Building Glass Industries vs. Union Of INDIA And 6 Others

Facts

The petitioner, Industrial And Building Glass Industries, filed a writ petition seeking a mandamus directing the GST Council to recommend an extension of the time period for filing GST Tran-1. The petitioner alleged that on the last date for filing, December 27, 2017, the electronic system of the GST Council did not respond despite their efforts, preventing them from filing their application for transactional credit. This failure to file, they contended, would lead to a loss of entitled credit. The respondents, Union of India and others, were served notice and stated that a new committee was likely to be formed to address individual cases within two weeks, but no exact date was provided. The Court was informed of these developments on July 5, 2018.

Held

The Court directed the respondents to reopen the GST portal within two weeks from the date of the order (July 5, 2018). In the alternative, if the portal was not reopened, the respondents were directed to entertain the petitioner's application manually after due verification of the claimed credits. Furthermore, the Court ordered that the petitioner should be allowed to pay their taxes on the regular electronic system, taking into account the credit that was likely to be considered for them. The Court disposed of the writ petition with these directions, implying that the petitioner's claim for credit would be considered upon compliance with these directives.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to a direction for the reopening of the GST Tran-1 filing portal or manual acceptance of their application for transactional credit, given the alleged technical glitches on the last date of filing. Petitioner's arguments: The petitioner argued that they made diligent efforts to file their GST Tran-1 application on the last date, but the electronic system failed to respond. This technical failure, they contended, was beyond their control and should not result in the forfeiture of their legitimate transactional credit. They sought a direction to the GST Council to facilitate the filing of their application. Respondent's arguments: The respondents indicated that a new committee was being formed to address individual cases, suggesting a potential administrative solution. However, they were unable to provide a definitive timeline for this process or a specific assurance regarding the petitioner's case. They did not explicitly argue against the petitioner's claim but highlighted the ongoing administrative steps.