Supreme Court Refuses to Entertain Challenge in GST Fake ITC Matter, Extends Time for Filing Statutory Appeal [Read Order]

The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the Delhi High Court’s order declining to entertain the writ petition in a Goods and Services Tax (GST) Input Tax Credit (ITC) fake invoicing case and extended the time for filing the statutory appeal.

The case arose from an order passed by the Delhi High Court. The writ petition had been filed by M/s C L International & Anr. under Article 226 of the Constitution challenging the Show Cause Notice and the Order-in-Original passed by the Commissioner.

The proceedings were based on intelligence gathered by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence in respect of alleged fraudulent availment of Input Tax Credit through bogus transactions and fake invoicing without actual supply of goods. The Department alleged that various connected entities were non-existing and non-functional firms, and that the ITC claimed was not admissible.

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Before the High Court, the petitioners argued that the Relied Upon Documents were not provided and that the submissions made in their reply to the Show Cause Notice were not considered by the adjudicating authority.

The Division Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Shail Jain observed that the matter involved complex factual issues including examination of various entities, their promoters, addresses and interconnections. The court observed that such detailed factual analysis cannot be undertaken in writ jurisdiction.

Relying on decisions including Assistant Commissioner of State Tax v. Commercial Steel Limited, the High Court explained that where an effective alternate remedy exists, writ jurisdiction should not ordinarily be exercised.

The High Court held that the impugned order was appealable under Section 107 of theCGST Act and relegated the petitioners to the appellate remedy. Since the limitation period had lapsed, the Court granted time till 1 February 2026 to file the appeal along with the requisite pre-deposit, directing that if filed within that time, the appeal shall not be dismissed on limitation and shall be decided on merits.

The petitioners approached the Supreme Court by filing Special Leave Petition (C) No. 4976/2026.

The Bench comprising Justice K.V. Viswanathan and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi observed that after hearing counsel for the petitioners, there was no good ground to interfere with the impugned order passed by the High Court.

At that stage, the petitioners requested extension of time to file the statutory appeal. The Supreme court extended the time for filing the appeal till 16 March 2026. The court also clarified that the appeal must be filed along with the requisite pre-deposit as directed by the High Court. With these directions, the Special Leave Petition was disposed of.

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