The Calcutta High Court recently overturned the GST appellate order because the authority did not review the transportation bills and other documents the petitioner had provided before making its decision.
The petitioner, Soumyendu Bikash Jana, moved a writ petition before the High Court to contest a GST appellate order issued under Section 107 of the West Bengal GST Act, 2017. The petition seeks judicial review of the appellate authority’s decision, which had previously dismissed the petitioner’s appeal against an underlying adjudication order.
The applicant, before that, was issued an SCN alleging short tax payment on outward supplies during the period from April 2018 to March 2019 and an incorrect claim of excess ITC. Since the applicant cannot file a response to the SCN therefore the adjudicating authority passed the order of raising a tax demand.
The applicant was dissatisfied with the adjudication order and submitted an appeal to the appellate authority, including various documents to show that he was not obligated to reverse any ITC. The applicant stated that he dealt in exempted goods and also acted as a Goods Transport Agency (GTA). As per him, no excess ITC was taken, and for taxable supplies, the applicable taxes had been paid earlier.
Mr Ray, the advocate of the applicant, claimed that all the documents, along with the transportation bills, were filed before the appellate authority but were not acknowledged. The counsel cited that the appellate authority rejected the appeal without appropriately analysing the materials on record, making the decision perverse.
It was mentioned by the counsel that, after the appellate order, the applicant had already paid the differential tax amount, wherever applicable.
Mr Chakraborty, the counsel for the GST authorities, claimed that the appellate order did not need the interference and was passed as per the law.
The single-judge bench Justice Om Narayan Rai, after hearing both sides, said that the applicant did not place various documents before the appellate authority to reinforce his case.
The court said that the appellate authority failed to understand and denied the appeal without appreciating the value of the transportation bills and other documents submitted.
The court said that the GST authorities cannot exhibit that the documents relied on by the applicant were not presented before the appellate authority. The same specifies that an absence of consideration of the material on record renders the appellate order legally unsustainable.
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The appellate order had been set aside by the court, and the case was remanded to the appellate authority for fresh consideration. The applicant was permitted to submit an additional submission in support of his case, and the appellate authority was asked to determine the appeal afresh in 6 weeks. As per the court, it had not analysed the case’s merits. The writ petition was disposed of with no order as to costs.
| Case Title | Soumyendu Bikash Jana vs The State of West Bengal & Ors |
| Case No. | WPA 18923 of 2025 |
| For Petitioner | Mr Himangshu Kumar Ray, Mr Subhasis Podder, Mr Gourav Chakraborty, and Mr Animitra Roy |
| For Respondent | Mr Tanoy Chakraborty, Ms Sumita Shaw, and Mr Saptak Sanyal |
| Calcutta High Court | Read Order |
