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2023 (1) TMI 939 - HC - Service TaxSabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme - declaration of the petitioners rejected by not issuing Discharge Certificate by the Designated Committee under SVLDRS - rejection on the ground that the petitioners did not make payment within the stipulated time as per Rule 7 of the Rules - HELD THAT:- On perusal of the bank statement furnished by the petitioners, it clearly shows that amount of 1,51,15,378/- was debited from the account of the petitioners on 30.06.2020. Therefore, for all intent and purpose once bank account of the petitioners is debited, it amounts to making payment by the petitioners. Even the payment uploaded status provided by the ICICI bank of the petitioners shows that payment was uploaded by the bank on 30.06.2020 at 18:28 hours and 20:23 hours and file status also shows that the same was processed. Therefore, it cannot be said that the petitioners have failed to make payment of amount of Rs. 1,51,15,378/- as determined by the Designated Committee as per Rule 7 of the Rules. Therefore, the petitioners should have been granted benefit of the SVLDRS by the respondent authorities by issuing Discharge Certificate. The petitioners have filed Form SVLDRS-1 to avail the benefit of the scheme as per section 126 of the Finance (No.2) Act, 2019 with regard to the tax dues determined under section 123 to avail the relief as per section 124 of the Act. The Designated Committee after verification of the declaration under section 126(1) issued a statement under section 127 in Form SVLDRS-3 on 16.03.2020 determining the amount of tax payable by the petitioners of Rs. 1,51,15,378/-. Thus the petitioners were found eligible for the benefit of the scheme. Therefore, the petitioners were required to make the payment of Rs. 1,51,15,378/- within 30 days i.e on or before 16.04.2020 which was extended due to Covid-19 pandemic by the Government upto 30.06.2020. From the record, therefore, it emerges that the petitioners have paid the amount from its bank account on 30.06.2020. The petitioners are not at fault for amount not transferred in the account of the Government by the bank on the same day on 30.06.2020. The stand taken by the respondent authorities is therefore, not tenable as once the amount has been debited from the bank account of the petitioners on 30.06.2020, for all intent and purpose, it cannot be said that the petitioners have failed to deposit the amount as required under Rule 7 of the Rules. The respondent authorities ought to have issued the Discharge Certificate to the petitioners without raising any dispute - Petition allowed.
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