Javed Ahmed Khan Vs Deputy Commissioner of Revenue (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court addressed an appeal concerning the rejection of a transitional GST credit claim. Javed Ahmed Khan had filed a writ petition challenging an order that denied his TRAN-1 claim of Rs. 35,59,064/-. The rejection was based on the premise that Khan had voluntarily applied for a new GST registration under Rule 8 of the CGST Rules, 2017, rather than transitioning from the existing tax regime. The core issue was whether Khan’s new registration was a voluntary act or a consequence of technical difficulties encountered during the GST migration process. Khan had contacted the CBEC helpdesk, reporting a failure to obtain the necessary provisional ID for migration, supported by a screenshot of ST-2. The helpdesk advised him to apply for a new registration, which he did on August 23, 2017.
The High Court determined that Khan’s application for new registration was not voluntary but a direct result of the helpdesk’s directive. This conclusion was based on the email correspondence between Khan and the CBEC helpdesk, which indicated that Khan had sought assistance due to technical issues in obtaining the provisional ID. The court found that the original rejection of the transitional credit claim failed to consider these circumstances. Consequently, the High Court allowed the appeal and the writ petition, setting aside the rejection order. The matter was remanded to the Deputy Commissioner of Revenue, State Tax, Ballygunge, for reconsideration. The court directed the authority to conduct a fresh review of Khan’s transitional credit application, taking into account that his new GST registration was not a voluntary act but a response to official guidance. The authority was also instructed to provide Khan with a personal hearing within three weeks.
