Sai Siddhi Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. Vs Union of India (Bombay High Court)
Bombay High Court: Statement of Director admitting tax liability prior to cut off date amounts to Quantification as per section 125 of SVLDRS Scheme hence rejection of declaration by designated committee is unjustified.
Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 (SVLDRS Scheme) – Rejection of declaration – Ground taken for rejection was that tax dues was not quantified as on cut-off date of 30-6-2019 – Statement of Director of assessee company recorded by Director General of GST Intelligence would clearly qualify as admission and would be considered for quantification under SVLDRS Scheme as per Clause (r) of Section 121 with Clause (c) of Section 123 of Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019, read with Circular dated 27-8-2019 – Thus, Petitioner eligible to make declaration in terms of Section 125 of SVLDRS Scheme – Fact that show cause notice was issued after 30-6-2019 makes no difference to eligibility of Petitioner – Therefore, Designated Committee was completely unjustified in rejecting Form SVLDRS-1 filed by Petitioner. [paras 19 to 21]
Procedural History: The Petitioner filed a Writ Petition against Respondent No. 4 Designated committee for rejecting Form SVLDRS-1 filed by Petitioner.
Facts: Petitioner is a company providing outdoor catering ser- vices by way of running corporate cafeteria services for various companies, industries etc. Respondent No. 2 initiated an inquiry against Petitioner for not depositing service tax collected from its clients with the Government Exchequer. The Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme Rules, 2019 (“SVLDRS Rules”) required declarants to electronically file Form SVLDRS-1 to avail benefits of the scheme. Petitioner filed Form SVLDRS-1, but it was rejected by Respondent No. 4 on the ground that the tax dues were not quantified as on 30th June 2019, which is the cut-off date prescribed in the SVLDRS scheme.
