TMI Blog2018 (10) TMI 876X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lt that section 172 of the Act which enables the Government to take necessary decision to avoid hardships could be utilized. The present situation is entirely different. Petition dismissed. - R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 10828 of 2018 - - - Dated:- 11-10-2018 - MR AKIL KURESHI AND MR B.N. KARIA, JJ. For The Petitioner (s) : MR.VINAY SHRAFF, ADVOCATE with MR.VISHAL J DAVE(6515), NIPUN SINGHVI(9653), MR.PRATEEK GATTANI, MS.HIRAL U MEHTA, ADVOCATES For The Respondent (s): MR ANKIT SHAH (6371) ORAL JUDGMENT ( PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE AKIL KURESHI) 1. Petitioner has made following substantive prayers in this petition: ( a) Your Lordships may be pleased to issue writ of declaration and/or any other appropriate writ(s) declaring Rule 117 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 and Form GST Tran1 as ultra vires to Section 140(5) and Section 164 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and also offends Article 14, Article 19(1)(g), Article 265 and Article 300A of the Constitution of India, 1950; ( b) Your Lordships may be pleased to issue writ of declaration and/or any other appropriate writ(s) declaring Section 164 of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... litches on the official portal. 6. Case of the petitioner is that such TRAN1 was actually filed within the time originally permitted. After the time limit was over, the petitioner noticed certain errors in the declaration made. Three transactions which were in pipeline when the GST was brought into force, due to oversight, were not included in such declaration. The petitioner therefore desires that such declaration TRAN1 may be permitted to be corrected. 7. Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the statutory provisions concerning filing of the returns envisage scope for correction of the returns, for which, time is granted upto the due date for filing the returns. He submitted that during the transitory period, number of changes took place. It was legitimate that some of the transactions may have been overlooked by the assessees. Not granting opportunity to correct the declaration would result into substantial financial loss to the petitioner and other similarly situated dealers. Counsel relied on the decisions of Supreme Court in case of Reserve Bank of India v. Peerless General Finance and Investment Co. Ltd. and Ors. reported in AIR 1987 SC 1023 and in case of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ubrule [1] of Rule 117 thus applies to all cases of credits which may be claimed by a registered person under section 140 of the Act and is not confined to subsection [3]. This plenary prescription of time limit within which necessary declarations must be made is, in our opinion, neither without authority nor unreasonable. 25. Section 140 of the Act envisages certain benefits to be carried forward during the regime change. As is wellsettled, the reduced rate of duty or concession in payment of duty are in the nature of an exemption and is always open for the legislature to grant as well as to withdraw such exemption. As noted in case of Jayam Company [Supra], the Supreme Court had observed that input tax credit is a form of concession provided by the legislature and can be made available subject to conditions. Likewise, in the case of Reliance Industries Limited [Supra], it was held and observed that how much tax credit has to be given and under what circumstances is a domain of the legislature. In case of Godrej Boyce Mfg. Co. Pvt. Limited [Supra], the Supreme Court had upheld a rule which restricts availment of MODVAT credit to six months from the date of issuance of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the input tax credit. Such conditions therefore must be strictly complied with. Thus, merely because the rule in question prescribes a time frame for making a declaration, such provision cannot necessarily be held to be directory in nature and must depend on the context of the statutory scheme. 27. Issue can be looked at from slightly different angle. Granting tax credit is an integral part of computation and collection of tax. Tax collection is an important element of budgetary allocations and estimation of the Union and the States. Such consideration of tax credits at such large scale cannot be allowed to linger on indefinitely which would have a direct effect on the tax collection, estimates and budgetary allocations and in turn, revenue deficit. 32. Thus, in the economic matters of such vast scale, the wider considerations of the State exchequer, while interpreting a statutory provisions cannot be kept out of purview. Quite apart from independently finding that the time limit provisions contained in subrule (1) of Rule 117 of the CGST Rules is not ultra vires the Act or the powers of the rule making authority, interpreting such powers as merely dir ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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