A division bench of the Gujarat High Court has held that the benefit of the amnesty scheme Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 cannot be denied to the assessee when the attempt to make the payment was failed due to technical issues.
The petitioner, L G Chaudhary was aggrieved by the action of the department denying the option to pay the amount determined by the Designated Committee formed under the Sabka Scheme, 2019 through online facility.
The petitioner is a partnership firm engaged in Government road construction work and also registered with Service Tax Department under the category of Industrial and Commercial Construction and Transportation of Goods by road.
During the pendency of the proceedings pursuant to the show-cause notice, the Finance Act (No.2), 2019 was enacted containing the Scheme for the resolution of the pending disputes with the Central Excise Department. The Scheme provided a one-time window w.e.f. 01.09.2019 to eligible persons to declare their tax dues and pay the same as per the provisions of Chapter V of the Finance Act (No.2),2019.
Before the High Court, the Revenue relied on the Supreme Court decision in Yashi Constructions.
Rejecting the contentions of the Revenue, the bench comprising Justice N.V.Anjaria and Justice Bhargav D. Karia observed that “the contention raised on behalf of the respondents relying upon the decision of the Apex Court in case of Yashi Constructions (supra) would not be applicable in the facts of the case as the petitioner made a bona fide attempt to make the payment within the stipulated time, however, due to technical issues the same was not credited in the account of the respondent and therefore the petitioner cannot be denied the benefit under the Scheme.”
Allowing relief to the assessee, the Court held that “In view of the above, this petition is allowed and the respondent authorities are directed to accept the payment of Rs. 38,64,256/- as specified in SVLDRS-3 dated 16.03.2020 along with interest @ 9% per annum from 30.06.2020 till the date of payment and grant the benefit of the Scheme to the petitioner. The petitionershall deposit the said amount with interest on or before 15.11.2022. As a consequence, the impugned order in-original dated 04.01.2021 passed by respondent No.3 is quashed and set aside so as to grant benefit of the Scheme to the petitioner. Rule is made absolute to the aforesaid extent.”
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to TaxscanPremium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates.
