The Delhi High Court, in a recent ruling, allowed an exporter to make consequential corrections to its GST returns for FY 2017–18 despite technical limitations of the GST portal.
The Court directed the authorities to allow rectification of Form GSTR-3B, correction of mismatches between GSTR-3B and GSTR-2A, and consequential amendments to Form GSTR-9.
Shine Shipping Company, a firm operating in customs clearance, international freight forwarding, logistics, and merchant exports, exported goods to a Hong Kong-based buyer through three shipping bills between October and November 2017.
The applicant mentioned that IGST was paid on the actual transaction values and the export proceeds were realised. However, wrong taxable values and IGST amounts were entered in the shipping bills.
U/s 149 of the Customs Act, 1962, the applicant applied for amendment. Customs authorities checked the documents available at the time of export and issued certificates approving the amendments.
But the customs EDI system did not allow the revisions to be entered electronically after the shipping bills had been processed. Because of this, related corrections could not be made in GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B.
An earlier Bench asked the applicant to approach the Delhi GST Department. It mentioned that if the portal did not support the revisions, GST officials could give effect to them manually. They needed revisions in GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B were later performed.
The counsel of the revenue said that the original relief for the shipping bills and GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B had already been granted. They claimed that the new claims for ITC, GSTR-3B and GSTR-9 need separate examination and were also beyond the mentioned time.
Read Also: Summary of All HC Rulings on GST Return Mismatch Cases
The Division Bench comprising Justice Anil Kshetrapal and Justice Shail Jain said the ongoing dispute only involved the consequential relief from the corrections already made.
During the hearing, both parties agreed that the amendments could be allowed while preserving the department’s authority for assessment, verification, and scrutiny.
The Court permitted the correction of Rs 38,17,280 short reflected in GSTR-3B, reconciliation of the GSTR-2A and GSTR-3B mismatch, and revision of GSTR-9 for 2017-18.
It mentioned that the department could validate the corrections as per the law. Any later proceedings should be determined independently and could not be denied merely on limitation, considering the pendency of the writ petition and the earlier court orders.
| Case Title | Shine Shipping Company vs. Union of India & Ors |
| Case No. | W.P.(C) 5592/2022 and CM APPL. 32971/2026 |
| For the Petitioner | Mr Prabhat Kumar, Mr Utkarsh Kumar, Mr Samarth, and Mr Hritik Raina |
| For Respondent | Mr Syed Abdul Haseeb, Mr Muhammad Aamir Khan, Ms Urvi Mohan, Mr Sumit Kumar and Ms Mahika Bisht, and Mr Shubham Mishra |
| Delhi High Court | Read Order |
