TC Tours Limited Vs Union Territory of J&K and ors. (Jammu & Kashmir High Court)
The Jammu & Kashmir High Court examined a writ petition challenging an appellate order dated 06.03.2023, by which the Appellate Authority under the Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 rejected an appeal filed in Form GST APL-02. The appeal had been dismissed solely on the ground that the appellant had not submitted a hard copy of the appeal, which the authority treated as mandatory under Section 107 of the GST Act.
The petitioner is engaged in providing tour-related services such as planning and organizing tours, arranging transport, accommodation, meals, guide services, and marketing tourism products. For these services, the petitioner procures various inputs and input services and avails eligible Input Tax Credit (ITC) under the J&K GST Act. A show cause notice dated 14.12.2020 was issued proposing demand of CGST and SGST aggregating to ₹17,14,572 along with interest and penalty, on the allegation that ITC availed in Form GSTR-3B exceeded ITC reflected in Form GSTR-2A for the period April 2019 to March 2020. The petitioner could not respond to the show cause notice due to business disruption caused by COVID-19 and lack of awareness of the notice.
