Soumyendu Bikash Jana Vs State of West Bengal & Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court set aside an appellate order rejecting a GST appeal and remanded the matter for fresh consideration, holding that the appellate authority failed to consider material documents on record. The writ petition challenged an order dated July 18, 2025 passed under Section 107 of the WBGST Act, 2017/CGST Act, 2017, which dismissed the petitioner’s appeal against an adjudication order dated April 28, 2024 under Section 73 of the Act. The proceedings originated from a show cause notice dated December 23, 2023 alleging short payment of tax on outward supplies for April 2018 to March 2019 and requiring reversal of excess Input Tax Credit (ITC). The petitioner did not reply to the show cause notice, leading to the adjudication order.
Before the appellate authority, the petitioner contended that no excess ITC had been availed and furnished documents in support of this claim along with the appeal. It was argued that the petitioner dealt in exempted goods and also acted as a Goods Transport Agency (GTA), and therefore was not liable to reverse any ITC. It was further submitted that taxes on taxable supplies had already been paid, and transportation bills produced before the appellate authority substantiated the petitioner’s case. The petitioner alleged that the appellate authority failed to consider these documents and rejected the appeal in a perverse manner. It was also submitted that subsequent to the appellate order, the petitioner had paid the differential tax amount for which liability existed.
