Pepsico India Holdings Pvt. Ltd Vs Union of India And 3 Ors (Gauhati High Court)
Gauhati High Court held that initiation of proceedings under section 73 of the CGST Act, 2017 without issuing Form GST ASMT-10 as prescribed under section 61 of the CGST Act, 2017 is invalid. Accordingly, held that action is contrary to the provisions of law.
Facts- The petitioner is engaged in the marketing of soft drinks and fruit juices, as well as the manufacturing and supply of food products from its various locations across the country. The petitioner in the present proceedings has assailed the vires of the show cause notice dated 05.09.2023 issued by the respondent No.2 under the provisions of section 73(1) of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 by alleging a purported mismatch between the details furnished by the petitioner in its annual return filed in the form GSTR-9C and the reconciliation statement filed in FORM of GSTR-9C. As per the show cause notice, the Input Tax Credit (ITC) reported in FORM GSTR-9C and the expenses reported in the financial statements, which are required to be disclosed in Table 14 of FORM GSTR-9C, appear to be unreconciled. Consequently, the petitioner is alleged to have wrongly availed and utilized Input Tax Credit amounting to Rs. 19,51,41,111/- for the period 1st of July, 2017 to 31st March 2018.
