TITLE: Vodafone Mobile Services Limited V Union of India
Decided On-: August 10, 2023
1345 of 2021
CORAM: Hon’ble Justice Mr. Biren and Mr. Devan M. Desai
INTRODUCTION-
A well-known telecommunications company, M/S Vodafone Mobile Services Limited, successfully appealed the Gujarat High Court’s decision to deny their request for a tax refund under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
FACTS OF THE CASE
facts would suggest that, in accordance with an order issued by the National Company Law Tribunal on August 30, 2018, the petitioner, who was active in the business of offering telecommunication services throughout India, was merged with Idea Cellular Limited. When the Goods and Services Tax was implemented, the petitioner switched to the GST regime and registered under the guidelines of the 2017 CGST/GGST Act. Taxes were paid in the appropriate States where liability was supposed to be discharged after being so migrated with effect from August 2017 and compliances including filing of GSTR-3B & GSTR-1 were streamlined.
There have been instances where the state of Gujarat has paid more tax than necessary. According to the contested order, which is clear from the order’s text, the order rejecting the request for a refund under Section 54(5) of the CGST Act, 2017, is devoid of any justification.
COURT ANALYSIS AND DECISION
In the case of the petitioner itself, learned counsel for the petitioner will cite decisions made by the High Courts of Madhya Pradesh, Calcutta, and Telangana. According to the orders issued by various High Courts, it is obvious that the Court should annul the challenged orders. The Court also stated that if the petitioner submits a new request for a refund of excess tax paid, that request must be handled legally from scratch.
The respondent-State’s learned Assistant Government Pleader would argue that the petitioner should be relegated to an alternative remedy of filing an appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act rather than having the current petition entertained.
The petitioner is instructed to submit a new application for a refund in accordance with Circular given the various orders made by this Court in the petitioner’s own case. On November 18, 2019, the Government of India’s Ministry of Finance, Department ofCentral Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, and Revenuetax policy Wing, within a three-week window from today.
The petition stands allowed, accordingly
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Written by- Steffi Desousa
