The Meghalaya High Court has rejected the plea by Jorabat-Shillong Expressway Limited which challenged the show cause notice issued by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) over the GST amount that the company has to pay.
Jorabat-Shillong Expressway Limited, a company which constructed and operates the four-lane highway from Jorabat to Shillong, had filed a writ petition before the High Court stating that the show cause notice issued by the DGGI is illegal and without jurisdiction.
The show cause notice issued on September 30, 2023 under Section 74 (1) of the CGST Act, 2017 read with the corresponding Section of the Meghalaya State GST Act, 2017, had asked the Jorabat-Shillong Expressway Limited to show cause within 30 days as to why the amount of GST allegedly short paid on the annuity payment received, along with interest and penalty be not realised from the company.
Instead of responding to the show cause notice, the Jorabat-Shillong Expressway Limited moved the High Court stating that the demand for GST on the annuity received by the company from the National Highway Authority of India was in contradiction and violation of an exemption to annuity granted vide notifications dated June 28, 2017, October 13, 2017, June 29, 2017 and November 9, 2017.
The division bench of the High Court in its order passed yesterday said, “No doubt the writ petition cannot be said to be devoid of merit, but at this stage wherein final orders are yet to be passed by the respondents in the matter, and further with the submissions of the respondents that the matter is yet to be considered finally, this court at this stage without further going into the merits, is not inclined to entertain the instant writ petition.”
The High Court also directed Jorabat-Shillong Expressway Limited to first pursue and participate in the proceedings initiated vide the show cause notice, by responding to the same and placing the facts and materials which have been placed before the court.
“It is further provided that as the period for replying to the show cause was 30 days from its issuance, which has elapsed, it is directed that the respondents will accept the response/reply to the impugned show cause and consider the same in accordance with law, if the same is presented within 30 days from the date of this order,” the High Court added.
