BMW India Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. Vs Union of India (Bombay High Court)
The issue under consideration is that despite the admitted successful filing of Form TRAN-1 by the Petitioner, the request of the Petitioner for transitioning of credit has not been approved by the ITGRC merely on the basis that there were no technical glitches on the GSTN side is justified in law?
High Court states that in this case, they are not examining the issue whether the Petitioner is entitled to VAT tax credit as claimed by the Petitioner which will be examined by the authorities. What we are concerned with is that despite the admitted successful filing of Form TRAN-1 by the Petitioner, the request of the Petitioner for transitioning of credit has not been approved by the ITGRC merely on the basis that there were no technical glitches on the GSTN side. There is no further explanation or clarification or evidence on the issue by the Respondents. Even the learned Sr. Counsel for the Respondents has only reiterated this stand during his submission. The whole objective of digitization is to convenience the tax payers and not to harass them. HC are conscious that the GST system is still evolving in its implementation. HC are of the view that merely because there were no technical glitches in the GSTN with respect to the Petitioner’s TRAN-1 which was admittedly filed in time, the claim of the Petitioner, if it was otherwise eligible in law, cannot be rejected for no apparent fault on the part of the Petitioner. This cannot be the objective of the GST system or digitisation. Such a situation cannot be countenanced as it would be wholly unfair and unjust. HC therefore, of the view that this is a fit case for invocation of our writ jurisdiction. Accordingly, they direct the Respondents to consider the case of the Petitioner and after looking into the merits of the claim and physically or otherwise verifying the amount of VAT as claimed by the Petitioner take such actions as may be necessary for transitioning the credit of such amount into the Petitioner’s credit ledger/ electronic credit ledger within four weeks from the date of this order.
