Sunita Rani Vs Union of India (Delhi High Court)
The Delhi High Court, in Sunita Rani v. Union of India, ad-dressed a writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution challenging the Show Cause No-tice (SCN) dated 10th December, 2023, and the consequent adjudication order dated 13th April, 2024, issued by the Sales Tax Officer, Ward 63, Zone-6, Delhi, for the tax period April 2018 to March 2019. The petitioner, Smt. Sunita Rani, widow of the proprietor of M/s Meenakshi Geotech, Shri Raj Kumar Goyal, who passed away due to cancer, sought relief on behalf of the deceased’s proprietary concern. The peti-tion also challenged the vires of Notifications Nos. 9/2023 and 56/2023 issued under the Central and State Tax Acts, asserting procedural irregularities, including alleged non-compliance with Section 168A of the CGST Act, 2017, and expiration of limitation periods.
The case formed part of a batch of similar petitions, with DJST Traders Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India & Ors. as the lead matter, and the legality of the notifications had been examined across var-ious High Courts, including Allahabad, Patna, Guwahati, Telangana, Bombay, and Punjab & Haryana High Courts. The courts were divided on the validity of Notification No. 56/2023 (Central Tax), which extended the time limits for adjudication under Section 73 of the GST Act. The Telangana High Court had questioned its validity, and the issue is presently sub judice before the Supreme Court in S.L.P. No. 4240/2025 (M/s HCC-SEW-MEIL-AAG JV v. Assistant Commissioner of State Tax & Ors.). Pending the Supreme Court’s decision, other High Courts, including Punjab & Haryana, refrained from expressing opinions on the notifications’ validity and maintained interim orders, preserv-ing judicial discipline.
