Nirajkumar Nareshkumar Lakhyani Vs State of Gujarat (Gujarat High Court)
In the case of Nirajkumar Nareshkumar Lakhyani v. State of Gujarat [Special civil application no. 6777 of 2023 dated April 27, 2023], the Gujarat High Court, in its esteemed judgment, overturned the ruling of the Adjudicating Authority. The Court granted permission to the assessee to fulfill their tax liability through installment payments, consequently lifting the provisional attachment of the assessee’s bank account.
Facts:
Nirajkumar Nareshkumar Lakhyani (“the Petitioner”) is engaged in the business of trading in metal scrape. The Department visited the business premises of the Petitioner on November 29, 2022 to enquire about the details of certain purchases, but the premises of the Petitioner was closed.
A summon was issued on November 30, 2022 under section 70(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”) and Adjudicating Authority pass an order dated April 25, 2023 (“the Impugned order”) to provisionally attach the current Bank Account, No. 045361900003074 of the Petitioner held with the YES Bank Limited, on November 30, 2022.
The Petitioner contended that he is willing to make pay the liability of INR 2,13,04,290/- (CGST Rs. 1,06,52,145/- + SGST Rs. 1,06,52,145/-) in 15 (fifteen) equal monthly instalments commencing from May, 2023.
Aggrieved with the Impugned order the Petitioner filed a writ petition in Gujarat High Court to set aside the Impugned Order passed by the Adjudicating Authority.
Issue:
Whether the Provisional Attachment can be lifted as assessee agreed to pay tax liability in installments?
Held:
The Hon’ble Gujarat High Court in Special civil application no. 6777 of 2023 held as under:
