Silverton Metals Pvt. Ltd. & Anr Vs Joint Commissioner (Calcutta High Court)
The writ petition challenges an order in original dated January 31, 2025, passed by the Joint Commissioner, Central Tax, Haldia CGST & CX Commissionerate under Section 74 of the CGST Act, 2017/WBGST Act, 2017. The petitioners contend that the order suffers from gross jurisdictional errors due to improper invocation of the extended limitation period of five years under Section 74.
Counsel for the petitioners argued that Section 74 was invoked only to take advantage of the extended period, even though the facts of the case did not justify its application. Referring to the detailed show-cause notice, it was submitted that the extended period was invoked solely on allegations that the petitioners had availed irregular input tax credit (ITC) through fraudulent activity and willful misstatement based on invoices purportedly issued by non-existent entities. It was further submitted that the petitioners had already paid the taxes relating to these alleged non-existent entities, which formed the basis for invoking the extended period.
The petitioners also contended that the CGST authorities raised additional allegations involving violations of other provisions of the CGST Act. However, for these other claims, the extended period had neither been invoked in the show-cause notice nor was it legally invocable. As a result, it was argued that the proceedings could not have been continued in respect of those demands. It was further submitted that since the extended period was invoked only in relation to alleged irregular ITC based on invoices from non-existent entities against whom alert circulars had been issued, such invocation could not be applied to other demands raised under different heads.
