Om Prakash Gupta Pr. Additional Director General & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
The case concerns a challenge to the provisional attachment of a bank account under Section 83 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The petitioner initially approached the Delhi High Court under Article 226, contesting both the attachment order dated 28 May 2024 and a Show Cause Notice (SCN) issued under Section 74 of the CGST Act. The petitioner argued that the attachment was invalid as no proceedings had been initiated at the time of attachment and that the Commissioner had not formed the requisite opinion based on tangible material. Additionally, the SCN was challenged on procedural grounds, including lack of timely pre-notice intimation.
The High Court examined Section 83, which permits provisional attachment only after initiation of proceedings under specified chapters of the CGST Act and upon the Commissioner forming an opinion that such attachment is necessary to protect government revenue. It noted that summons had been issued under Section 70 prior to the attachment, thereby satisfying the requirement of initiation of proceedings. The Court relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in Radha Krishan Industries v. State of Himachal Pradesh, which held that provisional attachment is a drastic power requiring strict compliance with statutory conditions, including formation of opinion based on tangible material.
