Sourav Ganguly Vs State of West Bengal & Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court has reinstated a GST appeal filed by former Indian cricket captain, Sourav Ganguly, ruling that the rejection of his appeal for short payment was improper. The court’s decision centered on the fact that the Directorate General of GST Intelligence had already recovered a sum from Ganguly that exceeded the amount required for the appeal pre-deposit under an amnesty scheme.
Ganguly had challenged an order dated July 30, 2024, which had rejected his appeal. This appeal was filed under an Amnesty Scheme, announced by the government, that allowed taxpayers to appeal orders issued under Section 73 or 74 of the WBGST/CGST Act, 2017. To be eligible for this scheme, the appeals had to be filed by January 31, 2024, with a pre-deposit equal to 12.5% of the disputed tax amount, up to a maximum of ₹25 crore. At least 20% of this pre-deposit had to be paid from the electronic cash ledger.
Although the appeal was rejected on the grounds of non-compliance with the scheme’s payment conditions, the court was informed by the State’s counsel that a sum of ₹7,40,661 had already been recovered from Ganguly on May 10 and May 29, 2023. This amount was found to be “much in excess” of the required 12.5% pre-deposit.
