Provisional Attachment Order Cannot Be Renewed After One Year

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  • Last Updated on 20 August, 2025

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SC Ruling on Provisional Attachment under GST 2025

Case Details: Kesari Nandan Mobile vs. Office of Assistant Commissioner of State Tax - [2025] 177 taxmann.com 481 (SC)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

  • J.B. PARDIWALA and R. Mahadevan, JJ.
  • Sridhar Potaraju,, Sr. Adv., Srinivas Kotni, Rishabh Dev Dixit, Rohit Dutta, Arjun D. Singh, Akshay Kumar, Lalit Mohan, Ms. Niharika Singh, Gurdeep Singh, Advs. and
  •  Gaichangpou Gangmei, AOR for the Petitioner. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The appellant challenged the renewal of a provisional attachment order issued by the revenue authorities under Section 83 of the CGST Act and Gujarat SGST Act. Initially, the authorities provisionally attached the appellant’s bank accounts. The appellant filed objections contending that the authorities had not disposed of the objections raised against the original order. Despite the expiry of one year from the date of the initial order, the authorities renewed the provisional attachment, citing engagement of the appellant in fraudulent invoicing. The appellant filed a writ petition asserting that the renewal of the attachment lacked statutory backing and was therefore a nullity. The High Court, while holding that provisional attachment orders cease to have effect after one year, opined that there was no embargo on authorities to renew the attachment upon recording satisfaction. The appellant sought a declaration that, in the absence of a legislative provision for renewal, any such exercise was invalid, and the matter was accordingly placed before the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

SC Held

The Hon’ble Supreme Court held that the renewal of a provisional attachment order after the expiry of one year from the original order is invalid. The Court emphasised that there is a complete absence of any executive instruction or statutory provision under the CGST Act or the Gujarat SGST Act authorising renewal of a lapsed provisional attachment order. It noted that permitting such renewal would render sub-section (2) of Section 83 otiose and would defeat the legislative intent. While the revenue possesses the power to issue a fresh provisional attachment after the initial order lapses, it cannot renew a previous order that has ceased to have effect by operation of law. Accordingly, the Supreme Court directed that the bank accounts attached by the authorities shall stand de-freezed and be made operable forthwith.

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Author: Taxmann

Taxmann Publications has a dedicated in-house Research & Editorial Team. This team consists of a team of Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, and Lawyers. This team works under the guidance and supervision of editor-in-chief Mr Rakesh Bhargava.

The Research and Editorial Team is responsible for developing reliable and accurate content for the readers. The team follows the six-sigma approach to achieve the benchmark of zero error in its publications and research platforms. The team ensures that the following publication guidelines are thoroughly followed while developing the content:

  • The statutory material is obtained only from the authorized and reliable sources
  • All the latest developments in the judicial and legislative fields are covered
  • Prepare the analytical write-ups on current, controversial, and important issues to help the readers to understand the concept and its implications
  • Every content published by Taxmann is complete, accurate and lucid
  • All evidence-based statements are supported with proper reference to Section, Circular No., Notification No. or citations
  • The golden rules of grammar, style and consistency are thoroughly followed
  • Font and size that's easy to read and remain consistent across all imprint and digital publications are applied