Vipulchandra Pursottamdas Mahant Prop of Vaibhavi Construction Vs Assistant Commissioner of State Tax (Gujarat High Court)
High Court orders GST department to transfer documents to DGGI during investigation
The Hon’ble Gujarat High Court in Vipulchandra Pursottamdas Mahant Prop of Vaibhavi Construction v. Assistant Commissioner of State Tax [R/Special Civil Application No. 9488 of 2023 dated June 22, 2023] directed the assessee to co-operate with the inquiry initiated by the DGGI and further directed Assistant Commissioner of State Tax and State Tax Officer 2 to provide all relevant documents to the DGGI Officer for further investigation.
Facts:
An Inspection was conducted on the Premises of Vipulchandra Pursottamdas Mahant Prop of Vaibhavi Construction (“the Petitioner”) under Section 67(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”) on December 10, 2021 by the senior intelligence officer, DGGI (“the DGGI Officer”) who has asked to supply the necessary documents in connection with the inquiry.
Further, the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax (“the Assistant Commissioner”) and the State Tax Officer 2 (“the State Officer”) issued summons under Section 70 of the Act to the petitioner and petitioner is asked to supply the necessary documents in connection with the inquiry initiated and further vide communication dated May 10, 2023 sought the documents for further investigation.
The Petitioner contended that the documents are in possession of the DGGI Officer and thus, the Assistant Commissioner and the Sate Officer have no authority to proceed further with the inquiry in connection with the same subject matter.
The Petitioner relied upon the Section 6(2)(b) of the CGST Act and submitted that the first investigation is initiated by the DGGI Officer in connection with the Petitioner and therefore, it is not open to Assistant Commissioner and the Sate Officer.
Issue:
What would happen if DGGI and other agencies initiated proceedings and sought information from assessee, which is available with one of the agency?
Held:
The Hon’ble Gujarat High Court in R/SPECIAL Civil Application No. 9488 of 2023 held as under:
