Chandra Enterprises Vs Deputy State Tax Officer (Madras High Court)
The Madras High Court disposed of two connected writ petitions by a common order at the admission stage, with consent of both sides. The first petition challenged an assessment order dated 29.12.2023 passed under Section 73 of the GST enactments for the tax period 2017–2018, which followed a show cause notice in DRC-01 dated 20.09.2023 for the period July 2017 to March 2018. The disputed tax confirmed was ₹93,650.
The petitioner contended that the disputed tax amount had already been credited to the electronic credit ledger on 15.12.2018 and that interest on belated payment was paid subsequently through returns filed for December 2018–19, amounting to ₹7,070 each towards CGST and SGST. It was submitted that while outward supplies were correctly declared in GSTR-1 for February 2018, an error occurred in GSTR-3B, which was later rectified in December 2018–19 returns. According to the petitioner, the entire disputed tax, interest, and penalty stood paid. However, as no reply was filed to the DRC-01 notice, the assessment order came to be passed.
An appeal filed on 24.06.2024 against the assessment order was rejected by the appellate authority on 22.10.2024 solely on the ground of limitation, leading to the second writ petition.
