Apprehension that GST Authorities would not take into Consideration Reply Filed: Rajasthan HC dismisses WP [Read Order]

A Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court dismissed a writ petition (WP) which was filed in the apprehension that the GST authorities would not take into consideration reply filed by the petitioner, Sodhani Sweets Private Limited.

The respondent authorities in the present matter are Joint Commissioner, Goods And Service Tax Council (GST Council), through its Special Secretary and the Commissioner Of Commercial Taxes, Commercial Tax Department, Government of Rajasthan.

A writ is a formal written order or direction that the Court issues which is to be obeyed by the authority or person to whom it is issued. A person appealing before the Supreme Court and High Courts for issuance of a direction for grant of immediate relief is called Writ petition.

There is availability of statutory provision under Section 260A (1) of the Income Tax, 1961, Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962 and Section 117 of the CGST Act, 2017, by virtue of the said provisions the affected party may file appeal before the High Court aggrieved by the order passed in appeal by the Appellate Tribunal or order passed by the quasi-judiciary authorities in the matter of tax laws.

The counsel for the petitioner, after arguing for some time, prayed for withdrawal of the writ petition at the present stage with liberty to file reply to Show Cause Notice.

The apprehension, as has been projected by the counsel, is that the respondent-authority would not take into consideration the reply which is to be filed by the petitioner and without considering the submissions, would proceed to decide the same.

A Division Bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Augustine George Masih and Justice Manindra Mohan Srivastava observed that “This apprehension on the part of learned counsel for the petitioner cannot be assumed at this stage. However, it is expected and is required that the pleas which would be taken by the petitioner in response to Show Cause Notice would be duly considered and dealt with while taking a decision.”

Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates