M/S R K Fire Works Through Its Proprietor Rajesh Kumar Dhingra vs. The State Of Madhya Pradesh

Held

The Court held that the petitioner's submission for withdrawal of the writ petition with liberty to approach the Tribunal was bonafide, considering that the petition was filed due to the non-functioning of the Tribunal at the relevant time. The Court allowed the withdrawal of the writ petition. It was also noted that the time spent by the petitioner before the High Court, from 11/08/2025 till the date of the order, shall be excluded while calculating the period of limitation for approaching the Tribunal. No specific finding was given on the merits of the impugned orders as the petition was withdrawn.

Facts

The petitioner, M/s R K Fire Works, through its proprietor Rajesh Kumar Dhingra, filed a writ petition before the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Gwalior. The petition challenged Orders Annexure P/1 and Annexure P/2. The petitioner's primary contention for approaching the High Court was that the GST Appellate Tribunal was not functional at the time of filing the petition. The petitioner sought quashing of the impugned orders or a stay on their operation until the Tribunal became functional. The State of Madhya Pradesh and others were the respondents. The petition was filed on 11/08/2025.

Key Issues

1. Whether the writ petition is maintainable before this Court when the GST Appellate Tribunal is now functional, given that it was filed due to the Tribunal's non-functionality at the time of filing? Petitioner's argument: The petitioner contended that they approached the High Court because the GST Tribunal was not operational. Now that the Tribunal has started functioning, they seek to withdraw the writ petition with liberty to approach the Tribunal. Revenue/State's argument: The judgment records no specific argument from the respondents/State regarding the maintainability or the petitioner's request for withdrawal. The Court considered the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner.