Davinder Chicken Centre Vs Sales Tax Officer (Delhi High Court)
The writ petition was filed under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution challenging an order dated 24 August 2024 passed by the Sales Tax Officer (Class II/AVATO), Ward 58, Zone-4, Delhi, for the tax period April 2019 to March 2020. Along with challenging the demand raised under the impugned order, the petitioner also questioned the validity of certain Central and State GST notifications extending limitation periods.
The challenge to the notifications was not unique to this case and formed part of a larger batch of writ petitions pending before the Court, with a lead matter where the validity of Notifications No. 9/2023 and 56/2023 (Central and State Tax) had been questioned. The Court noted that different High Courts had taken divergent views on these notifications. The Allahabad High Court upheld Notification No. 9/2023, the Patna High Court upheld Notification No. 56/2023, while the Guwahati High Court quashed Notification No. 56/2023. The Telangana High Court made observations on the invalidity of Notification No. 56/2023 without finally deciding the issue. The matter was thereafter taken up by the Supreme Court in an SLP, where notice had been issued and the question of extension of limitation under Section 168A of the CGST Act was under consideration. In view of this, several High Courts, including the Punjab and Haryana High Court, refrained from ruling on the vires of the notifications and directed that interim protections would continue subject to the Supreme Court’s decision.
