The Calcutta High Court directed the petitioner to file appropriate representation for the reconsideration of the matter before the Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Government of West Bengal in respect of the additional Goods and Service Tax (GST) liability for execution of government contracts.
Bikramjit Paul, the petitioner filed the writ petition application to seek relief by way of direction upon the respondent’s authority concerned to bear the additional tax liability for execution of subsisting Government contracts either awarded in the pre-GST regime or the post-GST regime without updating the Schedule of Rates (SOR) incorporating the applicable GST while preparing Bill of Quantities (BOQ) for inviting the bids.
Himangshu Kumar Ray and Shiwani Shaw appeared for the petitioner and Anirban Ray, T. M. Siddiqui, and S. Sanyal appeared for the respondent.
The counsel for the petitioner had also prayed for relief of issuance of direction upon the respondent’s authority concerned to neutralize the impact of the unforeseen additional tax burden on Government contracts since the introduction of GST with effect from the date of 1st July 2017 for an ongoing contract awarded before the date.
The Court disposed the writ petition by giving liberty to the petitioner to file appropriate representation before the Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Government of West Bengal within four weeks and held that the Finance Department should take a final decision within four months from the date of receipt of such representation after consulting with all other relevant departments concerned.
A single-member bench comprising Nizamuddin. J directed the petitioner to file representation for reconsideration of the additional tax liability.
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