Ajay Kumar Vs Union of India (Patna High Court)
In this case, the Patna High Court dealt with a writ petition filed by the petitioner challenging multiple orders passed under the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the financial year 2019–20.
The petitioner sought setting aside of the appellate order dated 27.07.2023 passed by the Additional Commissioner (Appeal), which had upheld an earlier ex parte order dated 08.01.2021 and a consequential order dated 09.01.2021 passed under Section 74 of the GST Act. The petitioner contended that these orders were passed without considering relevant returns, including GSTR-9 (Annual Return), GSTR-3B, and GSTR-2A.
The proceedings had been initiated on the ground that an amount reflected in GSTR-7 (relating to TDS deductions by a Government Department) was not disclosed in the petitioner’s GSTR-3B returns. The authorities alleged suppression of taxable turnover and imposed tax, interest, and penalty aggregating to ₹27,35,372/-. The petitioner argued that the turnover had already been disclosed in the returns and that the orders were passed without proper consideration of the records.
In addition to challenging the assessment and appellate orders, the petitioner also sought quashing of the demand notice issued in Form DRC-07 and requested release of the bank account that had been attached during the proceedings. Further relief was sought to restrain the authorities from initiating recovery proceedings through bank attachment.
