Case Law Details
Balaji Enterprises Vs Principal Additional Director General, Directorate General of GST Intelligence (Delhi High Court)
Introduction: In a significant judgment, the Delhi High Court granted Balaji Enterprises permission to operate its bank accounts, provisionally attached for more than a year by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence. This decision underscores the importance of procedural rules under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act) in safeguarding taxpayer rights.
Analysis: The petitioner, Balaji Enterprises, challenged an order provisionally attaching its bank accounts. The impugned order, passed without any stated reason for protecting the interest of Revenue, was argued to be excessively broad, affecting not just the petitioner’s accounts, but also those of immediate family members and related entities. The counsel for the petitioner contended that no such powers were vested under Section 83 of the CGST Act. The respondent’s counsel pointed out that the provisional attachment order lapsed after a year, rendering it inoperative, as per Section 83(2) of the CGST Act.
Conclusion: The Delhi High Court disposed of the case, asserting that the petitioner should not be hindered from operating their bank accounts. This ruling is a crucial reminder of the temporal restrictions applied to provisional attachment orders under the CGST Act and the taxpayer’s rights to operate their accounts upon the lapse of the prescribed period. The judgment has potential implications for future cases involving provisional attachments under the GST regime.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF DELHI HIGH COURT
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