2019 (5) TMI 784 - HC - GST

Manual filing of GSTR3B for August 2017 - requirement of subrule (2) of Rule 88 of the CGST Rules - HELD THAT - In the absence of proper response on the part of the respondents, the Court is of the view that the petitioners, who have been diligently prosecuting the matter all throughout, should not be made to suffer, and hence, are entitled to the grant of interim relief as prayed for in paragraph 5(A) of the application. The petitioners are permitted to file manually GSTR3B for August 2017 with correct and true details and the respondents are directed to accept and acknowledge such GSTR3B manually filed by the petitioners for August 2017 - application allowed.

Summary

Issues:
1. Filing of GSTR3B for August 2017 manually with correct details.
2. Acceptance and acknowledgment of manually filed GSTR3B by the respondents.
3. Direction to indicate discharge of GST liability for August 2017.
4. Relief sought by the petitioners.

Analysis:

Issue 1: Filing of GSTR3B manually
The petitioners sought permission to file GSTR3B for August 2017 manually due to technical issues with the common portal. They had already discharged their tax liability partly in cash and partly through Input Tax Credit (ITC). The system failure prevented them from uploading the return on time, leading to zero details in the submitted return.

Issue 2: Acceptance of manually filed GSTR3B
Despite the tax liability being paid by the petitioners, the common portal malfunctioned, resulting in the inability to reflect the payment details correctly. The respondents were directed to accept and acknowledge the manually filed GSTR3B for August 2017 to rectify the system error.

Issue 3: Direction to indicate discharge of GST liability
The petitioners had informed the authorities about the payment and discharge of their liability for August 2017 but faced challenges in correcting the GSTR3B return on the GSTN portal. The court directed the respondents to indicate the discharge of the petitioner's GST liability for August 2017 in the electronic liability register as required by Rule 88(2) of the CGST Rules, 2017.

Issue 4: Relief sought by the petitioners
Despite multiple representations to the authorities and delays in responses, the petitioners diligently pursued the matter. The court noted the lack of proper response from the respondents and granted interim relief to the petitioners, allowing them to file GSTR3B manually with correct details for August 2017.

The court found in favor of the petitioners, granting them permission to file GSTR3B manually for August 2017 with correct details and directing the respondents to accept and acknowledge the manually filed return. The court emphasized the petitioners' diligent pursuit of the matter and the lack of proper response from the respondents, leading to the grant of interim relief to the petitioners.