Midas Tankers Private Limited Vs Union of India (Bombay High Court)
The petition before the Bombay High Court challenged a show cause notice dated 24 September 2025 and an adjudication order dated 26 December 2025 issued under the GST regime. The petitioner, engaged in the business of providing vessel services on hire and freight basis, contended that the authorities had wrongly treated the place of supply of transportation services as India and consequently imposed GST liability. The petitioner sought quashing of both the notice and the order.
The petitioner’s records for the financial year 2021-22 were audited on 18 July 2025. Audit objections were raised regarding tax on outward supply of services and refund claims. The petitioner submitted a reply on 6 August 2025 supported by judicial precedents and factual explanations. Despite this, the respondent authorities issued the impugned show cause notice alleging that the transportation service was taxable in India and that GST was payable by the petitioner.
The petitioner had already challenged the show cause notice through an earlier writ petition. During subsequent hearings held between October and December 2025, the petitioner requested that adjudication proceedings be kept in abeyance because another pending writ petition questioned the validity and effect of omission of Section 13(9) of the IGST Act with effect from 1 October 2023. According to the petitioner, the omission of Section 13(9) without a saving clause meant that the earlier legal position would no longer survive.
