The Bombay High Court has quashed a cryptic order passed by the tax department denying the benefit of amnesty under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme ( SVLDRS) 2019 holding the same as invalid.
The petitioner, Rakesh Industrial Stitching approached the High Court against rejection of the declaration filed by petitioner under the ‘Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme Rules, 2019’ contending that the rejection has been made by passing a very cryptic order without spelling out the reason.
The Sabka Vishwas Scheme, 2019 is a scheme proposed in the Union Budget, 2019, and introduced to resolve all disputes relating to the erstwhile Service Tax and Central Excise Acts, which are now subsumed under GST, as well as 26 other Indirect Tax enactments.
A division bench comprising Justice K. R. Shriram & Justice Milind N. Jadhav observed that “We have perused the Form SVLDRS-1 issued by respondent No.2 wherein the remarks it only states “investigation already initiated by department”.”
Quashing the order, the Court held that “In the circumstances, we hereby quash and set aside the order dated 10.01.2020 with a direction to respondents to reconsider petitioner’s declaration and pass order as it deemed fit but after offering an opportunity of a personal hearing to petitioner. The notice for personal hearing shall be given atleast 7 days in advance. The order shall be a reasoned order, if respondents are not willing to accept petitioner’s explanation.”
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan AdFree. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates.
