BSNL’s Late GST Payment Cannot Penalise Buyer: Calcutta HC Orders ₹1.67 Lakh Re-credit to Purchaser’s Credit Ledger [Read Order]
The Court observed that taxpayers should not be burdened with liabilities arising from their suppliers’ violations.
![BSNL’s Late GST Payment Cannot Penalise Buyer: Calcutta HC Orders ₹1.67 Lakh Re-credit to Purchaser’s Credit Ledger [Read Order] BSNL’s Late GST Payment Cannot Penalise Buyer: Calcutta HC Orders ₹1.67 Lakh Re-credit to Purchaser’s Credit Ledger [Read Order]](https://images.taxscan.in/h-upload/2025/08/12/2075831-bsnl-gst-payment-penalise-buyer-calcutta-hc-orders-re-credit-purchasers-credit-ledger-taxscan.webp)
The buyer cannot be forced to pay the supplier's overdue GST (Goodsand Services Tax) payments, ruled the Calcutta High Court. It has instructed the GST department to recredit ₹1,67,974 to the buyer's credit ledger and ordered the supplier, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), to pay its GST dues.
The petitioner, Rabin Sarkar, proprietor of Dolphin Enterprises, challenged an appellate order under Section 107 of the CGST/WBGST Act, 2017 and sought a refund of ₹1,67,974, which had been debited from his cash ledger on 8 December 2024.
The petitioner took supplies from the BSNL. However, BSNL's failure to accurately pay and upload Input Tax Credit (ITC) in GSTR-1 for supplies made to the petitioner was the catalyst for the GST demands for 2018-19.
According to the records submitted before the court by the petitioner, purchases from BSNL attracted IGST. However, BSNL admitted to an “inadvertent mistake” in delaying payment of ₹5,65,020, which it ultimately deposited via Form GST DRC-03 on 21 March 2025.
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An additional sum of ₹91,908 was also acknowledged by the tax authorities as having been paid. The only outstanding amount was ₹1,39,380, which the petitioner contended was solely BSNL’s liability.
Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury observed that BSNL had, in fact, given supplies to the petitioner and therefore could not escape its statutory responsibility to pay the due IGST/CGST. The Court stated that taxpayers should not be burdened with liabilities arising from their suppliers’ violations.
The bench remitted the case to the appellate authority for review while setting aside the appellate order. Additionally, it directed that within two weeks, the ₹1,67,974 that had already been recovered be refunded to the petitioner's credit ledger.
The Court ordered BSNL to pay the outstanding ₹1,39,380, unless it had previously done so, with the help of the tax authorities for rectification. .
Adv. Arya Das and Adv. Amit Kumar Shaw appeared for the petitioner and Adv. Sanajit Ghosh and Adv. Siddharth Gupta appeared for the BSNL. Adv. T.Chakraborty and Adv. Saptak Sanyal appeared for the state.
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