Tvl. Balaiah Venkatesh Vs State Tax Officer (Circle) (Madras High Court)
In the case of Tvl. Balaiah Venkatesh Vs State Tax Officer, the Madras High Court addressed a writ petition filed by the petitioner challenging the recovery of Rs.10,65,000 from their bank account. The petitioner argued that recovery actions should not have commenced until after the three-month period allowed for filing a statutory appeal under Section 79 of the CGST Act, 2017. Furthermore, they contended that under Section 78, only the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner of Central Tax has the authority to initiate such recovery proceedings if deemed necessary before the three-month period, which was not followed in this case. The court noted that the recovery action was taken by a State Tax Officer rather than the authorized Principal Commissioner, violating statutory procedures. Consequently, the court ordered the State Tax Officer to refund the recovered amount and ensure compliance with the correct procedures for future actions. The petition was thus disposed of, directing the refund and proper handling of the appeal process in line with statutory requirements.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
By this writ petition, the petitioner seeks a direction to the respondent to restore the sum of Rs.10,65,000/-, which was recovered from the petitioner’s bank account pursuant to order in original dated 03.04.2024. Upon issuance of the above mentioned order in original, the petitioner presented a statutory appeal on 21.05.2024, which is within the prescribed limitation period of three months. Meanwhile, bank attachment notice dated 14.05.2024 was issued by the respondent herein. Pursuant thereto, a sum of Rs.10,65,000/- was debited from the petitioner’s account in the Federal Bank on 22.05.2024. After submitting application dated 28.05.2024 for refund of such amount, the present writ petition was
