Tej Farm Services Vs Prakash Yadav (GSTAT Lucknow)
Summary: GSTAT Lucknow dismissed the second appeal filed by M/s Tej Farm Services (P) Ltd. concerning Input Tax Credit for the period 01.07.2017 to 31.03.2018. The dispute arose from a mismatch between ITC reflected in GSTR-2A and ITC claimed in GSTR-3B. The appellant contended that eligible IGST credit had inadvertently been claimed under CGST and SGST heads because of a technical/clerical error and that there was no revenue loss. Proceedings had been initiated under Section 73 of the CGST/SGST Act. The adjudicating authority confirmed tax, interest and penalty, while the First Appellate Authority partly allowed the appeal, reducing the total demand from ₹11,40,593 to ₹9,33,222 and granting relief of ₹2,07,371. The Tribunal noted that the First Appellate Authority had allowed relief relating to IGST but sustained reversal of CGST and SGST. On examining the record, GSTAT found no fact placed by the appellant warranting interference with the First Appellate Authority’s decision. It consequently upheld reversal of ITC of ₹3,72,121.34, comprising CGST and SGST of ₹1,86,060.67 each, along with penalty of ₹37,212.12 and interest of ₹5,23,888.54.
The appellant had relied upon Rejimon Padickapparambil Alex v. Union of India and the Kerala High Court matter concerning Padiken Silks, but GSTAT held that the cited precedents involved entirely different factual content and did not assist the appellant. As no new facts or records were produced before the Bench, the appeal was dismissed and the first appellate order was confirmed.
