Jyotirmoyee Drugs And Anr. Vs Union of India And 3 Ors. (Gauhati High Court)
Gauhati High Court held that petitioner is entitled to claim input tax credit subject to conditions prescribed to newly inserted section 16(5) and section 16(6) of the CGST Act, 2017 which are inserted vide Finance (No.2) Act, 2024.
Facts- The petitioners are engaged in an execution of wholesale/distributor business of drugs. The petitioner is a registered assesee under the provisions of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017/ Assam Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017.
The petitioner is aggrieved that the time limit prescribed u/s. 73 of the CGST/AGST Act, 2017 which enables the department to proceed u/s. 73 of the CGST/AGST Act, 2017 is required to be issued within 3 years from the due date for furnishing annual returns for the financial year concerned. In view of the decisions taken by the GST Council as well as the subsequent notifications issued by the Department of Finance, Government of India, the due date for the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 have been extended by invoking Section 168A of the CGST Act so that the Department may initiate proceedings required to be undertaken u/s. 73 of the CGST/AGST Act, 2017, which could not be undertaken because of Covid-19 Pandemic situation. Covid-19 Pandemic situation was taken as a ground for invoking the “force majeure” condition u/s. 168A of the CGST Act, 2017.
