> The dismissal of Department’s SLP against order of Hon’ble Calcutta Hight Court by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Assistant Commissioner Of State Tax Vs Suncraft Energy Private Limited & Ors. (Supreme Court of India) is labelled as a big relief for taxpayers.
> The Supreme Court has dismissed the department‘s SLP against the order of Hon’ble Calcutta High Court wherein it was held that the purchasing dealer’s ITC cannot be denied by the department on the ground that that supplying dealer has not remitted the tax so collected unless there is an exceptional case like the supplier going missing or any situation wherein it becomes impossible for the department to collect tax from such a supplier. Until there is a remote chance of recovering the tax from the supplying dealer, the department shall not deny ITC to the purchasing dealer.
> However, questions must be raised in respect of the precedential value of this order.
> Having not considered the merits of the case and dismissal with an observation that the revenue involved is on the ‘lower side’ raises a big question over its precedential value.
> Hence, relief shall be determined on merits of the case.
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Author Bio
It was a foregone conclusion. There is no specific provision in GST Act for denial of ITC subsequent to generation of GSTR-2A/2B on cancellation of supplier’s registration retrospectively from the date it took effect. Officers of state Tax granted registration examining evidences alleged to have been fake. They were either incompetent or corrupt as is testified by the sheer number of such cases.