Case Law Details
D.B.S. Construction Pvt. Ltd. Vs State of Bihar (Patna High Court)
The Hon’ble Patna High Court in D.B.S. Construction (P.) Limited v. State of Bihar [Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 5708 of 2022 dated June 25, 2024], held that if the Assessee makes any representation for refund of GST deducted, Authorities were to be directed to dispose of same strictly in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of eight weeks from date of said representation and disposed of the writ petition.
Facts:
M/s. D.B.S. Construction Private Limited (“the Petitioner”), grievances with regard to the the payment of the admitted dues were redressed. However, the Authorities (“the Respondent”) had deducted GST at the rate of 18% for the contract which was entrusted to them in the year 2009 and completed before the year 2015.
At that time, Value Added Tax (“VAT”) was prevalent, not GST, which has come into effect in 2018. Despite this, the Authorities deducted GST at the rate of 18% from recent payments related to the contract.
The Petitioner contended that this GST deduction was incorrect.
Hence, aggrieved by the circumstances, the Petitioner filed the present writ petition seeking to withdraw the petition to pursue the Respondents to refund the GST erroneously deducted.
Issue:
Whether the GST liability applicable before its enactment?
Held:
The Hon’ble Patna High Court in Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 5708 of 2022 held as under:
- Held that, the Petitioner was permitted to withdraw the writ petition and pursue the GST refund claim directly with the Respondents. Thereafter, the Court directed that any representation for the refund be processed strictly in accordance with law and as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of eight weeks from the date of the representation. Hence, the writ petition is disposed of.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF PATNA HIGH COURT
Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner has stated that though the grievance of the petitioner with regard to the payment of the admitted dues has been redressed, however, the authorities have deducted GST at the rate of 18% for the contract which was entrusted to them in the year 2009 and completed before the year 2015. Learned counsel has stated that at that point of time the Value Added Tax (VAT) was prevalent, however, the authorities have deducted GST which has come into effect in the year 2018 on the ground that the payments are being made now. Learned counsel seeks to withdraw the present writ petition with a liberty to approach the appropriate authorities for refund of the GST which has been illegally deducted.
2. Having regard to the same, the present writ petition stands disposed of as withdrawn with the aforesaid liberty. In case, the petitioner makes any representation for refund of the GST deducted, the authorities are directed to dispose of the same strictly in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of eight weeks from the date of the said representation.
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