In a recent development, the High Court of Kerala stayed the Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) recovery proceeding against the Bar Council of Kerala, in a petition filed by it.
The petitioner, represented by its Hony. Secretary Sri. Joseph John, sought relief against the Additional Commissioner of the Central Board of Indirect Tax and Customs regarding tax, penalty, and interest levied under Exhibit P6.
The Bar Council was served a show cause notice demanding Goods and Services Tax after the implementation of the GST Act. The Bar Council had submitted replies contending that they are a statutory body and was exempted from payment of tax. Without considering this, the Additional Commissioner had issued an assessment order for recovery of tax, along with interest and penalty, the BCI contended.
The petition, presented on the 1st day of April 2024, requested a stay on all further proceedings, including tax recovery, pending the disposal of the writ petition.
The court examined the petition and the supporting affidavit, and considered the arguments put forth by Anil D Nair, Advocate along with Aditya Unnikrishnan for the petitioner.
The court took note of Advocate Sreelal Warrier, the learned Senior Standing counsel for the Central Board of Excise, who sought and was granted four weeks’ time for obtaining instructions from the respondent.
As an interim measure, the Single Bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh held that no coercive steps would be taken until the next date of posting in response to Ext.P2 show cause notice and Ext.P6 assessment order.
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