Shiva Jyoti Construc... v. Chairperson, Central..., Orissa High Court, Judgment, Law, casemine.com

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Case Number

W.P.(C) No. 18216 of 2017

Judges

Hon'ble Mr. Justice Murahari Sri Raman
Hon'ble Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar

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Smart Summary

Factual and Procedural Background

The Petitioner sought a direction permitting rectification of GSTR-1 returns for September 2017 and March 2018 by changing entries from B2C to Form-B2B so that M/s. Odisha Construction Corporation Limited (OCCL), the principal contractor, could claim Input Tax Credit (ITC). The last date for filing the return was 31 March 2019 and the deadline for rectification was 13 April 2019. The error was noticed after OCCL held up the Petitioner's running bill and informed the Petitioner on 21 January 2020. The Petitioner repeatedly requested the Opposite Parties to permit correction of the GSTR-1 forms but was refused. The Opposite Parties contended that no indulgence could be granted after the rectification deadline had passed. The Court was asked to decide whether the Petitioner should be permitted to rectify the returns despite the elapsed deadline.

Legal Issues Presented

Whether the Petitioner can be permitted to rectify previously filed GSTR-1 returns (changing B2C entries to B2B) after the statutory rectification deadline, to enable the principal contractor to claim ITC.
Whether permitting such rectification after the deadline would cause loss to the Opposite Parties or result in escapement of tax.

Arguments of the Parties

Petitioner's Arguments

The error in filing (B2C instead of B2B) was discovered only after OCCL withheld the running bill on 21 January 2020.
The Petitioner repeatedly requested permission to correct the GSTR-1 forms but was denied.
Permitting rectification will not cause any loss to the Opposite Parties and is necessary to avoid prejudice to the Petitioner by enabling the rightful ITC.

Opposite Parties' Arguments

Once the deadline for rectification of the Forms was crossed, no further indulgence could be granted to the Petitioner.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent	Rule or Principle Cited For	Application by the Court
SUN DYE CHEM v. The Assistant Commissioner ST	Acceptance of plea to permit filing of corrected form (order dated 6 October, 2020 in Writ Petition No. 29676 of 2019).	The Court relied on that decision as a similar circumstance where correction was permitted and accepted the approach of allowing the Petitioner here to file corrected forms.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The Court noted the factual timeline: the statutory last date for filing and the rectification deadline had passed. It considered the Petitioner's explanation that the error was noticed only after OCCL withheld payment and that the Petitioner had sought permission to correct the returns without success. The Opposite Parties' position—that rectification could not be allowed after the deadline—was weighed against the practical consequences. The Court found that permitting rectification would not cause any loss to the Opposite Parties nor lead to escapement of tax; the issue concerned entitlement to ITC which should be given to the Petitioner. The Court also referenced a similar Madras High Court order (SUN DYE CHEM) where correction was permitted. On that basis the Court set aside the letters of rejection and directed that the Petitioner be permitted to resubmit corrected Form-B2B under GSTR-1 for the specified periods, to be received manually and uploaded to the web portal by the Department within four weeks.

Holding and Implications

Petition allowed; letters of rejection set aside; writ petition disposed of.

Direct effect: The Court set aside the Opposite Parties' rejection letters dated 19 June and 23 September 2020, permitted the Petitioner to resubmit corrected Form-B2B for September 2017 and March 2018, directed the Opposite Parties to receive the corrected forms manually and for the Department to upload the details on the portal within four weeks. No broader precedent was announced beyond the relief granted in this case.

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Shiva Jyoti Construction v. Chairperson, Central Board Of Excise & Customs And Others Opposite Parties.

1. The Petitioner before this Court seeks a direction to the Opposite Parties to permit the Petitioner to rectify the GST Return filed for the period September, 2017 and March 2018 in Form-B2B instead of B2C as was wrongly filed under GSTR-1 in order to get the Input Tax Credit (ITC) benefit by M/s. Odisha Construction Corporation Limited (OCCL), the principal contractor.

2. Admittedly, the last date of filing the return was 31 March, 2019 and the date by which the rectification should have been carried out was 13 April, 2019.

3. It is the case of the Petitioner that the error came to be noticed after the OCCL held up the legitimate running bill amount of the Petitioner by informing it about the above error on 21 January, 2020. It is the case of the Petitioner that thereafter it has been making requests to the Opposite Parties to permit it to correct the GSTR-1 Forms but to no avail.

4. The stand taken by the Opposite Parties is that once the deadline for rectification of the Forms was crossed, then no further indulgence could be granted to the Petitioner.

5. The fact remains that by permitting the Petitioner to rectify the above error, there will be no loss whatsoever caused to the Opposite Parties. It is not as if that there will be any escapement of tax. This is only about the ITC benefit which in any event has to be given to the Petitioner. On the contrary, if it is not permitted, then the Petitioner will unnecessarily be prejudiced.

6. In similar circumstances, the Madras High Court in its order dated 6 October, 2020 in Writ Petition No. 29676 of 2019 (SUN DYE CHEM v. The Assistant Commissioner ST) accepted the plea of the Petitioner and directed that the Petitioner in that case should be permitted to file the corrected form.

7. For the aforementioned reasons, the letters of rejection dated 19 June and 23 September, 2020 are hereby set aside. The Court permits the Petitioner to resubmit the corrected Form-B2B under GSTR-1 for the aforementioned periods September, 2017 and March, 2018 and to enable the Petitioner to do so a direction is issued to the Opposite Parties to receive it manually. Once the corrected Forms are received manually, the Department will facilitate the uploading of those details in the web portal. The directions be carried out within a period of four weeks.

8. The writ petition is disposed of with the above directions.

9. An urgent certified copy of this order be issued as per rules.

Shiva Jyoti Construc... v. Chairperson, Central...