Emotions Transmission Pvt. Ltd. Vs Union of India (Jharkhand High Court)
In, the petitioner challenged the Order-in-Original dated 26.07.2023 and the consequential Form GST DRC-07 issued by the GST authorities, whereby Input Tax Credit (ITC) amounting to Rs.8,48,496/- for Financial Year 2018-19 was rejected under Section 73(9) of the CGST Act, 2017. The petitioner was also directed to reverse the ITC along with interest under Section 50 and penalty under Section 122(2)(a) on the ground that GSTR-3B returns for July 2018 to March 2019 had been filed beyond the due date prescribed under Section 16(4) of the Act.
The petitioner further sought a declaration that the ITC had been rightly availed in view of insertion of Section 16(5) of the CGST Act through the Finance (No.2) Act, 2024. According to the petitioner, the amendment extended the time limit for claiming ITC relating to Financial Years 2017-18 to 2020-21 up to 30.11.2021, and the petitioner had filed GSTR-3B returns within the extended period. The petitioner also sought refund of the reversed ITC and challenged a garnishee notice issued under Section 79(1)(c) in Form GST DRC-13 directing the petitioner’s bank to remit amounts towards interest and penalty.
The High Court observed that ordinarily the petitioner would have been relegated to the alternative statutory remedy under the GST Act. However, the Court took note of the subsequent amendment introduced in Section 16 by insertion of sub-section (5), which provides that notwithstanding Section 16(4), a registered person would be entitled to claim ITC for invoices or debit notes pertaining to Financial Years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 in any return filed up to 30.11.2021.
