HC Dismissed Writ Petition Challenging Notifications Which Extended Limitation to Frame Adjudication Orders u/s 73

Case Details: Graziano Trasmissioni v. Goods and Services Tax - [2024] 163 taxmann.com 126 (Allahabad)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Donadi Ramesh & Sumitra Dayal Singh, JJ.
• Suyash Agarwal, Aaditya Pandey, Atul Gupta, Rishi Raj Kapoor, Manoj Kumar Sinha, Rajneesh Tripathi, Arjit Gupta, Manish Gupta, Punit Kumar Upadhyay, Indra Deo Mishra, Pankaj Kumar Tiwari, Anurag Mishra, Pragya Pandey, Nitin Kumar Kesarwani & Vinayak Mithal for the Petitioner. 
• A.S.G.I., Gaurav Mahajan, Gopal Verma, Krishna Ji Shukla, Amit Mahajan, Parv Agarwal, Dhananjay Awasthi, Naveen Chandra Gupta & C.S.C. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

In the present case, the petitioner challenged the notification which provided extension and time was granted to Adjudicating Authorities to pass adjudication orders with reference to proceedings for financial year 2017-18 up to 31-12-2023.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the issuance of the time extension notification under Section 168A was not an administrative action but a legislative function. The Court also noted that the spread of pandemic Covid-19 (i.e., force majeure), remained constant during period 15-3-2020 to 28-2-2022. Therefore, it was observed that the first condition of existence of circumstances for exercise of the said power described as conditional legislation, stood fulfilled.

Thus, the Court dismissed the writ petition and held that the power to issue notification extending time limit for adjudication existed and no excessive extension of time was granted.