Case Details
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Case Title: Abhishek Ramisetty v. Commissioner of Central Goods and Services Tax, Howrah CGST & CX Commissionerate & Anr.
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Court: Calcutta High Court
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Petition No.: W.P.A. 19890 of 2024
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Date of Judgment: 03.10.2024
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Category of Dispute: Refund of Input Tax Credit (ITC)
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Relevant Sections: Section 54(3) CGST/WBGST Act, 2017; Rule 89(2)(h), Rule 89(5), Rule 90(3) of CGST Rules
Facts
The petitioner filed three refund applications under Section 54 of the CGST/WBGST Act, 2017 for the periods April 2020–March 2021, April 2021–March 2022, and April 2022–March 2023, amounting to ₹1,11,92,037. The grievance was that although the GST portal reflected deficiency memoranda in Form GST RFD-03, the actual deficiencies were not uploaded, preventing corrective compliance (para 2).
Questions for Determination
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Whether refund applications could be rejected or kept pending without disclosure of deficiencies in terms of Rule 90(3).
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Whether deficiencies communicated in Court could substitute statutory disclosure via Form RFD-03.
Observations
The Court noted that deficiencies pointed out by the department related to missing declarations required under Section 54(3), non-submission of statements (Rule 89(5), Rule 89(2)(h)), and absence of HSN/SAC codes in invoice statements (para 4–5).
The respondents admitted that on the GST portal, the option “supporting documents attached are incomplete” was selected because the system did not allow identification of specific deficiencies (para 5).
The Court agreed with the petitioner that absence of disclosure under Rule 90(3) prejudiced him, but since deficiencies were now identified in Court, they were deemed communicated (para 6–7).
Judgment
The Court permitted the petitioner to refile proper refund applications in Form GST RFD-01 within six weeks. The officer was directed to process them within eight weeks thereafter, treating deficiencies as communicated in Court. Thus, the writ petition was disposed of (para 7–9).
Table of Cases Referred
| Case | Verdict |
|---|---|
| (No external precedents were cited in this judgment) | — |
Between Fine Lines
This judgment emphasizes that refund applications cannot be indefinitely stalled by vague deficiency memos on the GST portal. Where the system fails to provide detailed deficiency disclosure, Courts can intervene to ensure taxpayers are not prejudiced. For industry, this means refund claims should be pursued with insistence on specific statutory disclosures, as generic deficiency tags are not sustainable.
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