In a recent case, the writ petitioner – company has approached Allahabad High Court essentially seeking its intervention to allow the petitioner to file a revised declaration in FORM GST TRAN-1 or manually.
The court held that every registered person is allowed to revise such declaration once and submit the revised declaration in FORM GST TRAN-1 electronically on the common portal, “within the period specified in the said rules or such further period as may be extended by the Commissioner in this behalf.”
The petitioner intends to avail the credit pertaining to SAD (Special Additional Duty) in respect of goods held in stock as on 30th June, 2017. It is the admitted position that the writ petitioner has already submitted FORM G.S.T. T.R.A.N-1 on 10th October, 2017, to carry forward the credits available to it as on 30th June, 2017. By a letter addressed to the Hon’ble Chairman, Goods and Services Tax Council, Government of India, the petitioner requested the Council to consider its case and to allow the petitioner to re-submit FORM GST TRAN-1 within the extended period in order to enable the petitioner to carry forward the credit of SAD in relation to stock of goods lying as on 30th June, 2017, under the transitional provisions of section 140(3) of the Uttar Pradesh Goods & Services Tax Rules, 2017
However, in spite of the above letter being on record, the petitioner has now come forward before this Court claiming that it is the Commissioner, Commercial Tax, U.P. who has the power to extend the time period for the purpose of submitting a revised declaration in FORM GST TRAN-1.
The division bench comprising of Justice Biswanath Somadder and Justice Ajay Bhanot held that on the basis of A conjoint reading of the Rule 120-A and Rule 117 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods & Services Tax Rules, 2017, clearly reveals that every registered person who has submitted a declaration electronically in FORM GST TRAN-1 within the period specified in Rule 117 or Rule 118 or Rule 119 or Rule 120 is allowed to revise such declaration once and submit the revised declaration in FORM GST TRAN-1 electronically on the common portal, “within the period specified in the said rules or such further period as may be extended by the Commissioner in this behalf.”
This further period extended by the Commissioner which is provided under Rule 120-A, therefore, cannot go beyond the time-frame provided under Rule 117 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods & Services Tax Rules, 2017. The period of extension has been statutorily circumscribed at 90 days and that too is possible only on the recommendation of the Council.
The court assume that the Commissioner while exercising his powers under Rule 120-A of the Uttar Pradesh Goods & Services Tax Rules, 2017, any registered person can avail the benefit of filing a revised declaration in FORM GST TRAN-1 for an unlimited or indefinite period of time after submitting a declaration electronically in FORM GST TRAN-1 under Rule 117 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods & Services Tax Rules, 2017. That surely could not have been the purpose and intention of the legislature. So in such circumstances, the court cannot grant this writ petition and accordingly disposed of.
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