Poddar Electronics Security Vs Commissioner And 2 Others (Allahabad High Court)
The Allahabad High Court, in a common order for three writ petitions, delivered a judgment in the case of Poddar Electronics Security vs Commissioner and 2 Others. The court dismissed the petitions, which were filed by the petitioner, Poddar Electronics Security, a company engaged in the trading of electronic goods like CCTV cameras. The central issue revolved around the petitioner’s tax status under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and the subsequent liability to file returns and pay taxes as a regular taxpayer.
The petitioner, Poddar Electronics Security, argued that after migrating from the old Value Added Tax (VAT) regime to the new GST regime, it had opted for the composition scheme, a simplified tax scheme for small taxpayers. Initially, the petitioner’s dashboard on the GST portal correctly showed its status as a composition taxpayer. However, it was alleged that from October 6, 2017, the status on the dashboard was unilaterally and incorrectly changed to that of a regular taxpayer.
The petitioner claimed to have taken several steps to rectify this issue. This included sending multiple emails to the GST department starting from November 6, 2017, and even to the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and the GST Council on March 14, 2018. The petitioner asserted that a reply received on March 21, 2018, from “Team GSTN” acknowledged the problem as a “technical issue” and stated that it had been resolved. However, the petitioner maintained that the issue persisted.
