The Calcutta High Court ordered to file statutory appeal as the contract executed for West Bengal State Rural Development Agency (WBSRDA) did not provide for GST payment.
The petitioner in the present matter is Biswajit Biswas. The challenge in the writ petition pertains to a contract executed by the petitioner for the WBSRDA, a State Government undertaking.
It was submitted on behalf of the petitioner that the underlying contract by and between the petitioner and the WBSRDA did not provide for payment of any GST. Such claim has been unilaterally imposed on the petitioner unconscionably and without authority of law. In the absence of the WBSRDA having made any payment, there is no question of the petitioner being permitted to pay the demand of GST.
It was submitted on behalf of the respondent authorities that despite the aforesaid Notification, no supplemental agreement had been entered into by and between the petitioner and the WBSRDA. The fact that any claim which could be sought on account of GST dues from the petitioner in the absence of the WBSRDA is a question which is to be adjudicated by the Appellate Authority.
It was further submitted that during the pendency of the writ petition, a final order has been passed under Section 73(5) read with Section 74(5) of the West Bengal Goods and Service Tax Act (WBGST), 2017 and the relevant Rules framed thereunder. A copy of such order was also supplied to the petitioner.
The Court of Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur observed that “In view of the subsequent events which have transpired after the filing of the writ petition and more particularly in view of the final order dated 18 September, 2023, the instant writ petition has become infructuous. The petitioner has an efficacious statutory remedy against the order dated 18 September, 2023 by way of preferring a statutory appeal.”
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