M/S. Bharat Motors Ltd vs The Union Of India And Others
2023 Latest Caselaw 447 Ori

                 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK

                               W.P.(C) No.8235 of 2022

            M/s. Bharat Motors Ltd.                      ....           Petitioner
                                                     Mr. B.P. Mohanty, Advocate
                                          -versus-
            The Union of India and others            ....     Opposite Parties
                                             Mr. P.K. Parhi, DSG along with
                                 Ms. Babita Sahu, C.G.C. for Union of India
                               Mr. A. Kedia, Standing Counsel for O.P. No.3
                          Mr. S.K. Pradhan, A.S.C. for Sales Tax Department

             CORAM:
             THE CHIEF JUSTICE
             JUSTICE M.S. RAMAN

                                         ORDER

Order No. 12.01.2023

01. 1. The short prayer in the present writ petition is that the Petitioner should be permitted to file the revised TRAN-1 either electronically or manually since the delay in filing it earlier was on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.

2. Following the judgment of the Supreme Court in Union of India v. Filco Trade Centre Pvt. Ltd. 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 628, this Court sets aside the impugned letter dated 3rd June 2020 of the Joint Commissioner of CT & GST (IT) as well the decision of the High Level Committee (IT-GRC) and issues the following directions:

(i) Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN) is directed to open common portal for filing concerned forms for availing Transitional Credit through TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 for two months i.e., w.e.f. 1st September 2022 to 31st October, 2022.

(ii) Considering the judgments of the High Courts on the then prevailing peculiar circumstances, any aggrieved registered assessee is directed to file the relevant form or revise the already filed form irrespective of whether the taxpayer has filed writ petition before the High Court or wehter the case of the taxpayer has been decided by Information Technology Grievance Redressal Committee (ITGRC).

(iii) GSTN has to ensure that there is no technical glitch during the said time.

(iv) The concerned officers are given 90 days thereafter to verify the veracity of the claim/transitional credit and pass appropriate orders thereon on merits after granting appropriate reasonable opportunity to the parties concerned.

(v) Thereafter, the allowed transitional credit is to be reflected in the Electronic Credit Ledger.

(vi) If required GST Council may also issue appropriate guidelines to the field formations in scrutinizing the claims.

3. The writ petition is disposed of in the above terms. Issue urgent certified copy of this order as per rules.

(Dr. S. Muralidhar) Chief Justice

(M.S. Raman) Judge S.K. Guin