Meerut Steels Vs Union of India And 3 Others (Allahabad High Court)
The Allahabad High Court, in its judgment concerning a writ petition filed by a registered taxpayer, examined the challenge made against an order dated 17 January 2025, issued by the Central GST authorities under Section 74 of the Central GST Act, 2017, read with Section 74 of the Uttar Pradesh GST Act, 2017, and Section 20 of the IGST Act, 2017. The petitioner contended that the State GST authorities had already conducted proceedings on the same subject matter earlier and had passed adjudication orders dated 20 June 2022 and 31 January 2024 under Sections 73 and 74 of the UPGST Act, 2017. Therefore, the petitioner argued that the subsequent proceedings initiated by the Central GST department were without jurisdiction and contrary to Section 6(2)(b) of the CGST Act, 2017, as well as to the CBEC circular dated 5 October 2018, which governs the coordination between Central and State authorities in GST adjudication.
It was further submitted that although the adjudicating authority acknowledged and reduced the amount of Input Tax Credit (ITC) already reversed by the State GST authorities, it failed to address the issue of jurisdictional overlap, resulting in an order alleged to be without authority of law. The petitioner therefore sought judicial intervention under Article 226 of the Constitution, asserting that the impugned order was passed despite the existence of prior State-level adjudication on the same issue.
