Tvl. Vardhan Infrastructure v. Special Secretary, Head of the GST Council Secretariat, New Delhi [2024]
Summary
Officers under the State or Central Tax Administration as the case may be cannot usurp the power of investigation or adjudication of an assessee who is not assigned to them.
Brief:
The crux of the matter revolved around whether entities assigned to either central or state tax authorities could be subject to investigation and proceedings by their counterparts under the respective GST enactments. Several writ petitions were filed challenging the jurisdiction of the authorities initiating proceedings against them.
The High Court of Madras in this case observed Section 6(1) of the respective GST Enactments empowers Government to issue notification on the recommendation of GST Council for cross-empowerment. However, no notification has been issued except under Section 6(1) of the respective GST Enactments for the purpose of refund although officers from the Central GST and State GST are proper officers under the respective GST Enactments. Since, no notifications have been issued for cross-empowerment with advice of GST Council, except for the purpose of refund of tax under Chapter-XI of the respective GST Enactments read with Chapter X of the respective GST Rules, the High Court held that the proceedings without jurisdiction.
The Court further observed that the manner in which the provisions have been designed are to ensure that there is no cross interference by the counterparts. Only exception under the law is provided under Section 6 of the respective GST enactement and therefore, in absence of a notification for cross-empowerment, the action taken by the respondents are without jurisdiction. The High Court held that Officers under the State or Central Tax Administration as the case may be cannot usurp the power of investigation or adjudication of an assessee who is not assigned to them.
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