High Court issued notice to Revenue as there was no option on the GST portal to file the appeal if transitional credit was rejected

The Hon'ble Allahabad High Court in the case of Anil Kumar Singh v. Union of India [Writ Tax No. 1901 of 2024 dated November 08, 2024] issued notice to the Revenue Department where the Assessee'sForm GST TRAN-1 claiming transitional credit was rejected on ground that transaction credit of Central Excise Duty was filled in wrong Column and further petitioner could not file appeal on there was no option on GST portal.

Facts:

Mr. Anil Kumar Singh ("the Petitioner") had wrongly filed TRAN-1, the claim amounting to INR 30,30,368.53/-. Hewas served Order dated February 24, 2023 ["the Impugned Order"] whereby TRAN-1 claiming transaction credit of Central Excise Duty by thePetitioner was rejected because it was filed in the wrong column.

The Petitioner after passing of the Impugned Order, attempted filing of the appeal but it was claimed that as there was no option to file an appeal of FORM TRAN-1 on the GST portal and manual appeal by the appellate authority is not acceptable, the same could not be filed.

Further, though the Authority observed about the option to request the Commissioner to allow to revise his FORM TRAN-1, the request made in this regard qua opening the portal was not entertained.

Hence, aggrieved by the circumstances, the present writ petition was filed before the Hon'ble High Court of Allahabad.

Issue:

Whether FORM GST TRAN-1 be rejected on the ground that transaction credit of Central Excise Duty was filed in wrong Column?

Held:

The Hon'ble Allahabad High Court in Writ Tax No. 1901 of 2024 held as under:

• Relied on, the case of Union of India v. Bharti Airtel Ltd. 2021 (54) G.S.T.L. 257 (SC), where High Court issued a notice to Revenue as there was no option on the GST portal to filed appeal where transitional credit was rejected. However, in the present case, no submission has been made on the plea raised pertaining to availability of credit to the tune of INR 30,20,268.52. Hence, Notice was issued to the Revenue Department.

Our Comments:

The Hon'ble High Court of Allahabad's notice to the Revenue Department underscores a critical issue in GST compliance. The lack of an option on the GST portal to appeal against rejection of transitional credit, as seen in Anil Kumar Singh's case, raises significant concerns about procedural fairness. The rejection of the Petitioner's claim for credit due to a clerical error, compounded by the inability to file an appeal, highlights the need for a more robust and inclusive digital framework within the GST system. This step by the High Court is a crucial move towards ensuring justice and addressing systemic inadequacies in the GST portal.