The division bench of Justice R D Dhanuka and Justice S M Modak of the Bombay High Court has expressed its concern over the allegations made by several assessees in various petitions about the repeated summons issued by the GST authorities for the purpose of harassment, coercion and recovery of substantial amounts during the stage of investigation itself without issuance of a show cause notice.
The High Court was hearing a writ petition seeking directions to restrain the GST authorities for taking coercive action for recovery of money during the investigations. The Petitioners, represented by Advocates Vinay Shraff and Nikhil Rungta, argued that despite fully participating in the investigation proceedings, the GST department was repeatedly issuing summons so as to coerce it into making payment of disputed amount of tax in contravention of the mandate of law which provides for issuance of show cause notice.
In the above background, the High Court passed an order directing the GST department to issue norms as to how many times, such summons can be issued against the assessees and for what purpose. The High Court also directed that a copy of this order be forwarded to the Additional Director General, Directorate General of GST Investigation, Pune to look in the matter of the Petitioner personally.
As regards the Petitioner’s plea, the High Court ordered the GST department to give 7(seven) days clear notice in case it proposes to adopt coercive steps for recovery of any amount, in which event the Petitioner would be at liberty to approach to apply for interim relief.
Shalaka Infra-Tech India Pvt. Ltd. & Anr vs The Union of India & Ors.
CITATION: 2022 TAXSCAN (HC) 156
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