A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court has directed re-credit of Rs. 8.15 Lakhs debited from the Cash/Credit ledger of the petitioner as a letter by Petitioner’s Chartered Accountant (CA) was not accepted by the office of the State Tax Officer, leading to gross violation of natural justice.
After the petition was heard for some time, Ms. S D Vyas, on instructions from Malviya, STO (C-006), Dombivali, who was present in Court stated that the averment contained in paragraph 5.11 of the petition did make out a genuine case of hardship to Petitioner and, therefore, the Court may, if it considers necessary, quash and set aside the impugned order dated 8th December 2023 and remand the matter for a fresh consideration.
Get a Copy of GST ITC Draft Replies & Internal Controls [New Edition – 2nd Edition 2024], Click here
The Bench of Justices K R Shriram and Jitendra Jain observed that, “We have perused the impugned order dated 8th December 2023 in which, it is noted, and we find that strange, that a letter by Petitioner’s Chartered Accountant was not accepted by the office. It is not clear why it was not accepted.”
The impugned order was thereby quashed and set aside.
The bench also directed that, “In view of above, consequential order dated 14th March 2024
debiting Petitioner’s cash ledger / ITC ledger for an amount of Rs.8,15,489/- is also quashed and set aside. The debit shall be reversed / re-credited during the course of this week.”
Get a Copy of GST ITC Draft Replies & Internal Controls [New Edition – 2nd Edition 2024], Click here
In tilting the balance a bit towards revenue for fairness, the bench also added that, “If Petitioner has not filed any reply, it may do so within two weeks from the date of this order being uploaded. Thereafter, Respondent No.2 shall give a personal hearing to Petitioner, notice whereof shall be communicated 5 working days in advance and pass a reasoned order dealing with all submissions of Petitioner. The order shall be passed on or before 30th September 2024.”
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
