Navin Vishwanathan Vs State of Maharashtra and Ors. (Bombay High Court)
In Navin Vishwanathan vs State of Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court examined the legality of freezing a bank account for recovery of GST dues allegedly payable by the petitioner’s deceased father. The petitioner challenged a communication issued under Sections 79 and 93 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, through which his personal bank account was attached without prior notice or hearing.
The petitioner’s father had carried on a proprietorship business under a specific trade name and held a GST registration, which was later cancelled. After his father’s death, the petitioner independently commenced a separate proprietorship business under the same trade name but with a different GST registration and from a different place of business. It was undisputed that both businesses were separately registered taxable entities.
Following the father’s death, a tax demand exceeding ₹3.86 crore was raised against the father’s proprietorship. Initially, the department attached the deceased father’s bank accounts, which were later released after the petitioner filed an appeal and made partial payment. Nearly a year later, the department issued a fresh recovery notice and froze the petitioner’s bank account for dues amounting to over ₹4.15 crore, allegedly payable by the deceased father.
