Pre deposit for filing appeal under GST to be paid through cash ledger and not from credit ledger : Orissa HC

Case Details: Jyoti Construction v. Deputy Commissioner of CT & GST, Jajpur - [2021] 131 taxmann.com 104 (Orissa)

Judicial  and Counsel Details

• • Dr. S. Muralidhar, CJ. and B.P. Routray, J.
  • Ajit Kumar Roy, Adv. for the Petitioner. 
  • Sunil Mishra for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was a partnership firm engaged in the business of execution of works contract including civil, electrical and mechanical. The Additional Commissioner rejected the appeal filed by the petitioner holding that the appeals filed were defective. He was of the view that the petitioner had made payment of the pre-deposit being 10% of the disputed amount under the IGST, CGST and SGST by debiting its electronic credit ledger. It did not pay it from the electronic cash ledger and this was in contravention of Section 49(3) of GST Act, 2017. The petitioner filed writ petition against the same.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court observed that output Tax as defined under section 2(82) of GST Act could not be equated to pre-deposit required to be made in terms of section 107(6) of GST Act. The petitioner was required to make payment equivalent to 10% of the disputed amount of tax arising from the order against which the appeal was filed. The credit ledger cannot be debited for making payment of pre-deposit at the time of filing of the appeal. Therefore, the Court found no merits and writ petition was liable to be dismissed.