High Court disposes 245 writ petitions by remanding the matter to Appellate Authority under Amnesty Scheme

[CA Bimal Jain]

The Hon’ble Orissa High Court in the case of M/S PRAVAT KUMAR CHOUDHURY AND OTHERS VERSUS ADDITIONAL STATE TAX OFFICER, CT & GST, CUTTACK AND OTHERS [2023 (11) TMI 1014 - ORISSA HIGH COURT] along with 244 other cases, disposed of the writ petitions thereby remanding the matter to appellate authority on account of Notification No. 53/2023 – Central Tax dated November 2, 2023 wherein special procedure under amnesty scheme for filing appeals has been provided for the taxable person who could not file the appeal on or before March 31, 2023, against the orders passed under Section 73 or 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”).

Facts:

Aggrieved by the first appellate orders (“the Impugned Orders”) passed by the Revenue Department (“the Respondent”), wherein the appeals were rejected being barred by limitation under sub-section (1) read with sub-section (4) of Section 107 of the CGST Act. The various Petitioners total number being 245 filed writ petitions before the Hon’ble Orissa High Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India.

During the pendency of writ petitions, the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (“CBIC”) has issued notification providing a special procedure under the amnesty scheme for filing appeals.

Held:

The Hon’ble Orissa High Court in the case of M/S PRAVAT KUMAR CHOUDHURY AND OTHERS VERSUS ADDITIONAL STATE TAX OFFICER, CT & GST, CUTTACK AND OTHERS [2023 (11) TMI 1014 - ORISSA HIGH COURT] and other writ petitions held that:

• Opined that, the CBIC issued Notification No. 53/2023 – Central Tax dated November 2, 2023, which notified the procedure for filing an appeal in cases where the taxable person who could not file an appeal on or before March 31, 2023, against the orders passed under Section 73 or 74 of the CGST Act, by the proper officer within the time period specified in sub-section (1) of section 107 read with sub-section (4) of section 107 of the CGST Act, and the taxable persons whose appeal against the said order was rejected solely on the grounds that the said appeal was not filed within the time period specified in section 107, as the class of persons, shall follow certain special procedure for filing appeals in such cases.
• Held that, the Impugned Orders are set aside, and the matters are remanded to the Respondent to proceed in accordance with law. The amount of tax deposited by the Petitioners, suo moto, or as per the interim orders passed by the Court should be taken into consideration while deciding the case of the Petitioner on merit, and refund if any, would be subject to the outcome of the appeal. Hence, the writ petition is disposed of.

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