Supreme Buildcon PVT. LTD. vs. Smt. Ritu Dwivedi
Held
The Court held that since the respondents had stated that they were not proceeding with the recovery of the adjudicated amount, there were no grounds to continue with the Contempt Petition at that stage. The Court reasoned that the mere passing of an adjudication order, without any consequential recovery action, did not violate the status quo order. The ratio decidendi is that an adjudication order, in isolation, does not breach a status quo order that restrains coercive action, provided no recovery is pursued. The Court disposed of the Contempt Petition, with a liberty to the petitioner to renew the prayer if the respondents proceeded to recover the adjudicated amount. No issue was expressly left undecided.
Facts
The petitioner, Supreme Buildcon Pvt. Ltd., filed a Contempt Petition Civil No. 863 of 2024 alleging that the respondents, including Smt. Ritu Dwivedi, had committed contempt of a court order dated 26.10.2021. This earlier order had directed the respondents to maintain status quo and refrain from taking coercive action concerning the GST liability of the petitioner. The petitioner contended that the issuance of an adjudication order (Annexure C-3) by the respondents, despite the status quo order, constituted contempt. The respondents, in their reply, stated that they had only passed an adjudication order under Section 74 of the M.P.G.S.T. Act, 2017, and had not initiated any recovery proceedings under Section 79 of the said Act.
Key Issues
1. Whether the issuance of an adjudication order under Section 74 of the M.P.G.S.T. Act, 2017, by the respondents, subsequent to a court order directing status quo regarding GST liability, constitutes contempt of court? Petitioner's Argument: The petitioner argued that the issuance of the adjudication order itself, despite the status quo order, was a coercive action and thus amounted to contempt. Respondents' Argument: The respondents contended that passing an adjudication order under Section 74 of the M.P.G.S.T. Act, 2017, does not amount to coercive action or contempt, as they had not initiated any recovery proceedings under Section 79 of the Act pursuant to the adjudication.
Sections Cited
Section 74, Section 79
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORDER The present Contempt Petition has been filed alleging contempt of Order dated 26.10.2021 whereby this Court has passed interim order restraining the respondents from taking any coercive action so far as the subject matter of the Writ Petition is concerned which relates to liability of GST.
Contempt has been alleged on the ground that an adjudication order Annexure C-3 has been issued by the Respondents despite the said status quo order and that amounts to contempt of the Order.
The Respondents have filed reply and they have stated they they have passed only an adjudication Order under Section 74 of M.P.G.S.T. Act, 2017 and they have not initiated any recovery in pursuance to Section 79 of the said Act.
As the Respondents have stated before this Court that they are not proceeding ahead with recovery of the amount so adjudicated, therefore, at 1 CONC-863-2024 NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:720
The judgment continues below.
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Reproduced from the public record of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.