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TMI Blog2025 (1) TMI 941X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... service of notice of rule on behalf of the respondents. 4. For the sake of convenience, the facts are recorded from Special Civil Application No. 26730 of 2022. 5. By way of this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for a direction to CGST and Central Excise Authorities to accept the declared amount manually as per the statements issued in Form SVLDRS-3 and further for a direction to issue Discharge Certificate in Form SVLDRS-4 upon manual payment of declared amount. 6. Brief facts of the case are that the petitioner is a proprietary concern engaged in the business of providing rent a cab service. 7. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner was under bona fide belief that the service provided by the petitioners is not taxable and hence had not been paying service tax. The department after conducting inquiry had issued various show cause notices demanding service tax from the petitioner. 8. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner was eligible to make a declaration under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 to settle the disputes and therefore, the petitioner opted for the scheme to set ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iled and statement in Form SVLDRS-3 was issued. Thereafter, the petitioner had appointed new Consultant/Chartered Accountants who informed the department that they need some time as they are recently engaged and requested for accommodation in the matter. The Chartered Accountant also addressed letter dated 26.07.2021 to the adjudicating authority reiterating the request. 17. On 08.12.2021, the Chartered Accountant again addressed the adjudicating authority in detail regarding applications filed under SVLDRS and informed the department that they do not have login credentials and therefore, they are unable to fetch correct details from the portal. It was also informed that they could not make the payment online due to technical difficulty on the portal. 18. The adjudicating authority again fixed the matter for hearing on 28.12.2021 vide letter dated 22.12.2021. It is the case of the petitioner that said letter was received by the petitioner on 29.12.2021 and therefore, vide letter dated 30.12.2021 the petitioner again requested for granting fresh hearing and also requested to consider the reply dated 8.12.2021. 19. It is the case of the petitioner that no further hearing was grant ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g as per the data of the Board and therefore, the Board had issued directions to Zonal Officers vide instruction dated 14.07.2020 whereby Zonal Commissioners were directed to contact the declarants who could not pay amount declared due to any difficulty and likely to pay in future. It was submitted that the departmental authority had failed to follow the aforesaid instruction and therefore, the petitioner may be permitted to pay amount manually. 26. It was further submitted that the Department had further issued instruction dated 17.03.2021 by which they have directed the Designated Authority to manually process declaration in cases where the High Courts have directed to do so. 27.It was further submitted that petitioner was ready and willing to pay the interest at appropriate rate after the last date of payment and therefore, the petitioner may be allowed to make payment under the SVLDRS and further be allowed to settle the disputes in true spirit of SVLDRS. 28. On the other hand, learned advocate Mr. P.Y. Divyeshwar for the respondents submitted that the petitioner had provided services falling under the category of rent a cab scheme operator. An inquiry was conducted by the d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Thus, the ICEGATE portal was functioning properly and no technical glitch was reported. Therefore, the contention of the petitioner that he tried to make payment but due to technical glitch same could not be done is without merits. 32. It was further submitted that a Tax Payers Manual for SVLDR Scheme, 2019 had been placed on the CBIC website wherein the manner of generation of challan and payment methods were explained with screenshots. As per the instructions in the said manual, after generation of the challan, the petitioner was required to generate the mandate form and proceed to make payment through NEFT/RTGS. Since the working process under the scheme was automated, any technical issues were to be communicated by email to the CBIC Mitra helpdesk. However, the petitioner has failed to make such email communication with the CBIC Mitra Helpdesk regarding the issue. 33. It was further submitted that the entire working process under the SVLDRS was automated and therefore, manual payment under SVLDRS is not acceptable as per the provisions of the SVLDRS. It was therefore, submitted that the petitions lack merit and therefore, the same may be dismissed. 34. Having considered the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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