M/S Bansal Rope Store vs. Union Of INDIA And 4 Others
Facts
The petitioner, M/s Bansal Rope Store, 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 their application for transactional credit could not be filed on the last date, December 27, 2017, due to the electronic system of the respondent not responding. This failure to file on time, the petitioner contended, would lead to a loss of eligible credit. The petition was filed before the High Court against the Union of India and other respondents.
Held
The Court directed the respondents to reopen the GST portal within two weeks from the date of the order. 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 be allowed to pay their taxes on the regular electronic system, considering the credit that was likely to be allowed. The Court's reasoning was based on the petitioner's submission that they faced technical difficulties in filing their application on the last date, which could lead to a loss of credit. The principle here is that the tax authorities should provide a mechanism for taxpayers to claim legitimate credits, especially when system failures prevent timely filing.
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 difficulties faced on the last date of filing? Petitioner's Contention: The petitioner argued that due to the failure of the respondent's electronic system to respond on the last date for filing GST Tran-1, they were unable to submit their complete application for transactional credit. They contended that this technical glitch should not result in the loss of their entitled credit and sought intervention from the Court to rectify the situation. Respondent's Contention: The judgment does not record any specific arguments made by the respondents. However, the Court's directions suggest that the respondents were expected to address the petitioner's grievance regarding the portal and the application.
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Court No. - 35 Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 357 of 2018 Petitioner :- M/S Bansal Rope Store Respondent :- Union Of India And 4 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Rishi Raj Kapoor Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,A.S.G.I.,Ramesh Chandra Shukla Hon'ble Bharati Sapru,J. Hon'ble Neeraj Tiwari,J. Heard learned counsel for the parties. The petitioner seeks a writ of mandamus directing the GST council respondent no.2 to make recommendations to the State Government to extend the time period for filing of GST Tran- 1 in the case of the petitioner because his application was not entertained on the last date i.e. 27.12.2017 and he has filed his complete application for the necessary transactional credit. The petitioner has alleged in the petition that despite making several efforts on the last date for filing of the application, the electronic system of the respondent no.2 did not respond, as a result of which the petitioner is likely to suffer loss of the credit that it is entitled to by passage of time. In view of the above, the respondents are directed to reopen the portal within two weeks from today. In the event they do not do so, they will entertain the application of the petitioner manually
The judgment continues below.
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Reproduced from the public record of the Allahabad High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.