Ramesh Vs Union of India And Ors. (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court dismissed a writ petition challenging a ₹1.00 crore GST demand and the freezing of bank accounts, stating that the petitioner must pursue alternate remedies to address claims of identity theft. The petitioner contended that their PAN and Aadhaar details were misused to fraudulently register a GST account for M/s Shree Kamakshi Steels Pvt. Ltd., a company with which they had no association. As a result, a tax demand was raised, and the petitioner’s bank accounts were frozen. The petitioner sought to have both the demand and account freeze overturned. However, the court noted that the tax demand had been finalized under Section 74 of the CGST Act, 2017, and the petitioner had not formally challenged the order. The court also observed that the freeze was executed under Section 79(1)(c) for tax recovery and not under Section 83, which applies to provisional attachments.
The court held that the case involved disputed factual issues, such as whether the petitioner’s identity had been misused, which could not be resolved in a writ petition. While denying the relief sought, the court granted the petitioner liberty to pursue other legal remedies, including raising identity theft claims in appropriate proceedings. It also directed the authorities to investigate the identity theft allegations separately. Consequently, the petition was disposed of without affecting the petitioner’s right to challenge the tax demand through lawful channels.
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