The High Court's decision centers around the interpretation of ...

High Court rejects repeated attachment orders beyond one year under GST law, upholding statutory interpretation.

November 30, 2024

Case Laws     GST     HC

The High Court's decision centers around the interpretation of Section 83 of the CGST/SGST Acts, which deals with provisional attachment orders. The key points are: Section 83(2) clearly states that a provisional attachment order will cease to have effect after one year from its issuance. Unlike the Income Tax Act, the GST Acts do not provide for extending this one-year period. The court held that accepting the Revenue's contention of issuing repeated attachment orders would violate the statute's language and legislative intent. The court relied on Supreme Court precedents like Radha Krishnan Industries and Vodafone International Holdings, which emphasize interpreting statutes based on their plain meaning and not supplying words or giving different meanings, even if it serves a larger public interest. Consequently, the court quashed the impugned attachment orders, declaring that Section 83 does not authorize fresh attachment orders after the one-year period specified in Section 83(2).

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