Sri Om Sakthi Traders Vs State Tax Officer (Intelligence) (Madras High Court)
The Madras High Court disposed of two writ petitions challenging assessment orders dated 28.08.2024 passed under Section 74 of the respective GST enactments for the tax periods 2022-23 and 2023-24, along with the consequential rectification orders dated 23.12.2024 passed under Section 161, whereby the petitioner’s rectification applications had been rejected.
The Court noted that the writ petitions had been filed on 07.01.2025, which was within the condonable period of limitation prescribed under Section 107 of the respective GST enactments.
The Court observed that, in similar circumstances, assessment orders had been quashed and matters remitted to the adjudicating authority, subject to assessees depositing 10% to 100% of the disputed tax, depending upon the length of delay in approaching the Court. The Court found no reason to adopt a different approach in the present case.
To balance the interests of both the petitioner and the Revenue, the Court quashed the impugned proceedings and remitted the matters to the respondent for passing fresh orders, subject to the petitioner depositing 10% of the disputed tax in cash from its Electronic Cash Register within 30 days from the date of receipt of a copy of the order.
