Nector Foods Private Limited Vs Union of India (Delhi High Court)
Summary: The Delhi High Court considered a writ petition filed by M/s Nector Foods Private Limited concerning payments made through Form GST DRC-03 during a search of the petitioner’s premises. The petitioner sought, among other reliefs, a declaration that two DRC-03 debits dated 30 July 2025 were coerced and involuntary and a direction for refund of Rs.28,34,294/- representing interest and penalty. The petitioner also sought interest on the amount and directions concerning CCTV and audio-video recording in interrogation areas, referring to Paramvir Singh Saini v. Baljit Singh, (2021) 1 SCC 184.
The petitioner’s case, as recorded by the Court, was that payments amounting to Rs.28,34,294/- together with interest had been compelled during the search and were made in violation of Instruction No.01/2022-23 (GST-Investigation) dated 25.05.2022 issued by the Commissioner (GST-Inv.), CBIC. The Instruction concerns deposit of tax during the course of search, inspection or investigation; a verified TaxGuru publication discussing the same instruction is Instruction No.01/2022-23 (GST-Investigation).
The writ petition disclosed three payments made during the search proceedings. The first payment, under ARN AD0707250242951 dated 29.07.2025 at 6:29 PM, involved Rs.67,20,000/- which was stated as “not claimed”, with no interest or penalty and no amount claimed under Section 73(5) of the CGST Act, 2017. The second payment, under ARN AD070725024398T dated 30.07.2025 at 4:19 AM, comprised interest of Rs.16,47,050/- and penalty of Rs.10,08,000/-, totalling Rs.26,55,050/-, under Section 74(5). The third payment, under ARN AD070725024402C dated 30.07.2025 at 4:29 AM, comprised Rs.4,53,628/- tax, Rs.1,11,200/- interest and Rs.68,044/- penalty, totalling Rs.1,79,244/-, also under Section 74(5).
