GST Provisional Attachment Orders Expire After 1 Year with no Need for Setting Aside: HC

Case Details: Merlin Facilities (P.) Ltd. v. Union of India - [2023] 150 taxmann.com 373 (Delhi)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Vibhu Bakhru & Amit Mahajan, JJ.
  • Vineet Chadha, Saumitri Pradhan, Pavit Singh, Vivek Chaurasia & Rahul Gaur, Advs. for the Petitioner.
  • Ravi Prakash, CGSC Ms Seema Singh, Ms Usha Jamnal, Farman Ali, Astu Khandelwal, Harpreet Singh, Ms Suhani Mathur & Jatin Kumar Gaur, Advs. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner filed the writ petition to challenge the order passed under Section 83 of CGST Act, 2017 whereby the various bank accounts of the petitioner were provisionally attached and no further orders were passed for recovering any dues. It was submitted by the department that the inquiries have revealed that the assessee was a non-existing person and has not co-operated in the investigation.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that as per Section 83(2) of the CGST Act, 2017, the operation of an order provisionally attaching the bank account would cease to be operative after the expiry of the statutory period of one year.

In the aforesaid circumstances, the impugned order dated 13.01.2021 has ceased to be operative. Therefore, the Court held that no orders would be required for setting aside the provisional attachment order since the impugned order was no longer operative and it would not impede the petitioner, in any manner, in operating its bank account.