Bidhan Mondal vs Assistant Commmissioner
2023 Latest Caselaw 1229 Cal

Item no. 08

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION APPELLATE SIDE

Present:

The Hon'ble Justice T.S. Sivagnanam And The Hon'ble Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya

MAT 44 of 2023 with IA No. CAN 1 of 2023

Bidhan Mondal vs.

Assistant Commmissioner, Bureau of Investigation, South Bengal (Headaquarters) & ors.

Appearance:

For the Appellant         :   Mr. Sumit Ghosh
                              Mr. Souradeep Majumdar

For the State             :   Mr. A. Ray, learned G.P.
                              Mr. T. M. Siddiqui
                              Mr. D. Ghosh
                              Mr. D. Sahu


Heard on                  : 17.02.2023

Judgment on               : 17.02.2023


T.S. Sivagnanam J.:

1) This intra Court appeal is directed against the order

dated 20.12.2022 passed by the learned Single Judge in WPA

27502/2022. The said writ petition was filed by the appellant

challenging the order passed by the Senior Joint Commissioner of

Commercial Taxes, Asansol Circle, who is the appellate authority who

exercised powers under Section 107 of the GST Act read with Rule 108

of the GST Rules. The appeal was dismissed on the ground that it is

barred by limitation. As rightly pointed out by the learned Government

Counsel, the law on the subject is well settled that if the statute

prescribes an outer time limit for condonation of delay in filing appeals,

then the learned writ Court is not entitled to extend such period by

applying Section 5 of the Limitation Act.

2) Therefore, we find that there is no error in the order

passed by the appellate authority in rejecting the appeal as time barred.

However, considering the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case,

we feel that a slightly different approach can be taken so that not only

the appellant would be entitled to get his registration revived but it will

also enure in favour of the revenue as it will pave the way for collection

of taxes. Therefore, we are inclined to pass the following order making it

clear that this order shall not be treated as a precedent and it has been

passed considering the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case.

3) In the result, the appeal stands disposed of by directing

the assessee to take note of the fact that the assessee has filed all the

returns during the Financial Year 2021 onwards and according to the

assessee, the taxes have been paid and only interest rates to be paid.

The Assessing Officer is directed to verify all the facts and if the assessee

has filed all the returns for all the relevant periods, paid the taxes as

well as the interest for the belated payment of taxes and any other

statutory compliance, then if there is no other legal impediment, the

registration of the assessee shall be restored. This direction shall be

complied with by the Assessing Officer within a period of 15 days from

the date of receipt of the server copy of this order.

4) Consequently, the connected application also stands

disposed of. There shall, however, be no order as to costs.

5) Urgent certified photostat copy of this order, if applied

for, shall be given to the parties as expeditiously as possible on

compliance of all necessary formalities.

(T. S. Sivagnanam, J.)

(Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J.)

Pallab/Amitava (AR. CT.)