Facts of the Case

M/s. RSD Natural Resources Pvt. Ltd. sought a direction permitting it to file Form GST TRAN-1 to carry forward, into its electronic credit ledger, transitional credit of Value Added Tax, Central Excise duty, Service Tax or Cess relatable to the period ending 30.06.2017, as furnished under the erstwhile laws, in terms of Section 140 of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The petitioner's case was that the credit could not be availed within the prescribed time because of a technical problem in uploading the data on the GST portal. The parties agreed before the Court that the issue was squarely covered by the Division Bench (Appeal Court) judgment dated 14.12.2021 in MAT 552 of 2020 (Nodal Officer, Jt. Commissioner, IT Grievance, GST Bhawan vs. M/s. Das Auto Centre & Ors.), which had granted liberty to similarly placed assessees to claim individual transitional tax credit through GSTR-3B returns.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether an assessee who could not file Form GST TRAN-1 due to a technical difficulty on the GST portal could be permitted to claim the transitional credit under Section 140 through an alternate mode.
  2. Whether the ratio of the Das Auto Centre appellate judgment, permitting claim of transitional credit via GSTR-3B, applied to the petitioner's case.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner was entitled to carry forward transitional credit of VAT, Central Excise, Service Tax or Cess under Section 140 of the GST law but could not upload the requisite declaration in Form GST TRAN-1 because of a technical problem on the portal.
  • The issue stood covered by the Appeal Court's judgment dated 14.12.2021 in MAT 552 of 2020 (Das Auto Centre), where similarly placed assessees were permitted to claim individual transitional credit through GSTR-3B.

Respondent's Arguments

  • Counsel for the State and the Union of India, on considering the matter, agreed that the issues raised in the writ petition were covered by the Das Auto Centre appellate ruling and did not press for a contrary view.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Court held that, in view of Section 140 and the relevant GST rules, and following the Das Auto Centre appellate judgment dated 14.12.2021 in MAT 552 of 2020, the petitioner was entitled to similar relief.
  • As the GSTR-3B return for January 2022 (due in February 2022) had already been filed, liberty was granted to the petitioner to claim its individual transitional tax credit in the GSTR-3B return for February 2022, to be filed in March 2022.
  • The concerned Assessing Officer was granted liberty to verify the genuineness of such claim.
  • It was clarified that the benefit of the order would apply only to the petitioner before the Court.

Important Clarification

  • Where an assessee is genuinely unable to file Form GST TRAN-1 on account of a technical glitch on the common portal, courts have permitted claim of the transitional credit through the ordinary GSTR-3B return for a subsequent tax period, subject to verification of genuineness by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer, rather than denying the credit outright.
  • Such relief, being fact-specific and granted with liberty for departmental verification, is generally confined to the petitioner before the Court and does not operate as a general class direction.

Sections Involved

  • Section 140, West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 / Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — provides for transitional arrangements for carrying forward input tax credit from the pre-GST regime.

Decision – In Favour of

Decided in favour of the Assessee; liberty was granted to claim the transitional credit through GSTR-3B, subject to verification by the Assessing Officer.

Related Case Laws

This order directly follows the Calcutta High Court's Division Bench (Appeal Court) judgment dated 14.12.2021 in MAT 552 of 2020, Nodal Officer, Jt. Commissioner, IT Grievance, GST Bhawan vs. M/s. Das Auto Centre & Ors., which is the governing precedent on permitting transitional credit claims via GSTR-3B where TRAN-1 filing failed due to technical glitches under Section 140.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court at Calcutta
  • Case No.: W.P.A. 1904 of 2022
  • Coram: Hon'ble Md. Nizamuddin, J.
  • Date: 23.02.2022
  • Petitioner: M/s. RSD Natural Resources Pvt. Ltd.
  • Respondents: State of West Bengal & Ors.

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