2021 (4) TMI 873 - HC - GST

Maintainability of petition - availability of alternative remedy - Reversal of transitional credit claimed by the petitioner - no excess carry forward ITC as on 30.06.2017 - grievance of the petitioner is that opportunity of hearing not provided - violation of principles of natural justice - HELD THAT - The stand taken by the respondents that the petitioner is having an appeal remedy before the concerned Appellate Authority and therefore this Writ Petition is not maintainable cannot be accepted. At this juncture, the learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that Writ Appeal filed against the order made in the aforesaid Writ Petition has also been dismissed by this Court. Petition allowed.

Summary

Issues:
Challenge to impugned order of second respondent in GSTIN. 33AABFI1728A1Z5/17-18 dated 07.06.2020 regarding transitional credit claimed by petitioner under GST regime.

Analysis:
1. The petitioner, as the Managing Partner of M/s. Immanuel & Co, claimed unavailed credit of &8377; 1,28,37,268 under the new Goods and Service Tax regime implemented on 01.07.2017. This credit included amounts related to tax paid on purchases and tax deducted at source (TDS). The petitioner filed for this credit through TRAN-1, which was carried forward as input tax credit in the new regime.

2. The second respondent issued a notice alleging that the petitioner had no excess carry forward input tax credit (ITC) as of 30.06.2017 and proposed to disallow and reverse the transitional credit claimed through TRAN-1. The petitioner, citing Section 140 of the Tamilnadu Goods and Service Tax, contended that the credit claimed under TDS was eligible to be carried forward. The petitioner raised concerns over the lack of a personal hearing before the impugned order was passed.

3. The respondents argued that the petitioner had an appeal remedy before the Appellate Authority, making the writ petition not maintainable. However, the petitioner referenced a previous judgment by the High Court in a similar batch of cases where the issue was discussed at length, emphasizing that the transitional TDS under the TNVAT Act was allowed under Section 140 of the TNGST 2017.

4. The court, in line with the previous judgment, set aside the impugned order, holding that the petitioner was entitled to transition TDS under the TNVAT Act as per Section 140 of the TNGST 2017. The court quashed the order dated 07.06.2020 and allowed the writ petition, with no costs imposed. The connected miscellaneous petition was also closed in light of the judgment.