Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Vs Union of India & Ors. (Gujarat High Court)
The petitions arose from the order dated 07.03.2019 passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) in Appeal Nos. 207 and 208/2018-19, whereby the appeals filed by the Department were allowed and the refund orders concerning July and August 2017 were set aside. Special Civil Application Nos. 17988 and 17989 of 2019 challenged that common order, while Special Civil Application Nos. 18874 of 2021 and 6600 of 2022 challenged the consequential proceedings for recovery of the refunds. The supplied judgment records that the petitions were decided by adopting the reasoning in Special Civil Application No. 12712 of 2019.
The petitioner had filed FORM GST TRAN-1 on 27.10.2017, under which transitional credit of Rs. 14,30,19,855/- was sanctioned. It subsequently filed refund claims for July 2017 and August 2017 in FORM GST RFD-01A for Rs.2,58,59,476/- and Rs.7,80,46,724/- respectively, in terms of Section 54 of the CGST Act, 2017. The adjudicating authority sanctioned refund of Rs.2,58,59,476/- of accumulated ITC on exports without payment of duty.
The Commissioner (Appeals), however, allowed the Department’s appeal on 07.03.2019 and denied the refund for July and August 2017. The petitioner thereafter obtained interim relief from the High Court on 16.10.2019 restraining recovery proceedings concerning the refund already granted. A demand notice dated 02.12.2020 proposed recovery of Rs.2,58,59,476/- and Rs.2,78,40,210/- under Section 73 of the CGST Act, 2017. The Order-in-Original dated 16.02.2021 confirmed recovery of those amounts with applicable interest and imposed penalties.
