Recipients of Services under GST are Entitled to Maintain an Application for Advance Ruling: HC

Case Details: Anmol Industries Ltd. v. West Bengal Authority for Advance Ruling, Goods and Services Tax - [2023] 150 taxmann.com 3 (Calcutta)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • T. S. Sivagnanam, CJ. & Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J.
  • Ankit Kanodia, Ms Megha Agarwal & Abhijat Das for the Appellant.
  • T. M. Siddique, Debashis Ghosh & Varun Kothari for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The assessee was registered under GST and it had filed an application for advance ruling before the Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) to determine applicability of exemption notification. The AAR rejected the application and concluded that recipients of services were not entitled to maintain an application for advance ruling. The assessee filed writ petition and the learned Single Bench directed to file appeal before the Appellate Authority of Advance Ruling. It filed intra-court appeal and challenged the order.

High Court Held

The High Court noted that the definition of “applicant” under Section 95(c) of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017 is quite broad and includes any person registered or desirous of obtaining registration. In the instant case, the assessee was registered under Act and therefore it met the said criterion.

Moreover, the Section 97 of CGST Act, 2017 sets out procedure for making an application for advance ruling, and question on which ruling is sought must fall within scope of section 97(2). In instant case, assessee had sought a ruling on applicability of an exemption notification under Act, which fell within scope of section 97(2) (b). Therefore, the Court held that the assessee was eligible to make an application for advance ruling and matter was remanded.