Fork Media Pvt Ltd. (Presently Known As Fork Media Group Pvt. Ltd.) Vs Union of India & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
In the case Fork Media Pvt. Ltd. (now Fork Media Group Pvt. Ltd.) vs Union of India & Ors., the Supreme Court of India addressed an appeal against a High Court decision which had dismissed the petitioner’s writ on grounds of insufficient proof. The central issue concerned the petitioner’s failure to demonstrate the use of CENVAT Credit to pay their output service tax liability post December 11, 2018. The High Court had noted that despite repeated opportunities, the petitioner failed to present any documentary evidence to support their claim, and pointed out inconsistencies in the petitioner’s stance during proceedings.
However, during the hearing before the Supreme Court, the petitioner submitted an “Order cum SVLDRS Form 3” dated January 27, 2022. This document included a verification report from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Mumbai. Paragraph 8.6 of the report confirmed that Fork Media had availed and utilized CENVAT Credit from March 2016 to June 2017 and had filed the corresponding service tax returns in December 2019. Importantly, the DGGI also verified the payments made by Fork Media through both cash and CENVAT Credit and found them to be in order. Given this verification, the Supreme Court allowed the exemption application and issued a limited notice to the respondents for clarification regarding this verification report. The Court also permitted dasti (direct) service and granted liberty to serve the Standing Counsel for the Union of India. The matter is listed for further hearing on April 25, 2025.
