Bank account cannot continue to be provisionally attached for more than a year by GST department- Bombay High Court
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Case Details: |
Implement Impex Private Limited vs. State of Maharashtra |
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Appeal No.: |
Writ Petition No. 3710 of 2021 |
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Order pronounced by: |
Bombay High Court |
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Date of order: |
04-08-2021 |
Source: Bombay High Court Judgements
Brief Facts:
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The bank account of the petitioner was attached by the GST department in exercise of power conferred by Section 83(1) of the CGST Act considering that proceedings initiated against the petitioner under section 67 of the CGST Act were pending. The proceedings were terminated by an order dated 28-08-2020 which has been carried in appeal by the petitioner on 27-10-2020. The petitioner also made a pre-deposit of Rs. 1,25,392/- u/s 106(6) of the CGST Act. |
Submission by the petitioner
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The grievance that has been voiced in this writ petition is that despite lapse of more than a year from the date of provisional attachment of the petitioner’s bank account, the provisional attachment has not been lifted. This is despite the fact that section 83(2) of the CGST Act states that provisional attachment shall cease to have effect after the expiry of a period of one year from the date of order of attachment. |
High Court Ruling:
On the basis of submissions and facts of the case, the Hon’ble High Court allowed the writ petition filed by the assessee directing the Joint Commissioner of State Tax, Investigation Branch-B, Mumbai to immediately communicate to the petitioner’s banker that the attachment order ceases to be operative and that the petitioner may be permitted to operate the relevant bank account which was under attachment.
