📰 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗵𝗶 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗦𝗖𝗡𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗦𝗧, 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆 📢 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲: “Matters which have the potential of casting financial liabilities or penal consequences cannot be kept pending for years and decades together…

The flexibility which the statute confers is not liable to be construed as sanctioning lethargy or indolence,” observed Justices Yashwant Varma and Ravinder Dudeja. 🔍 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: M/S VOS Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. v. The Principal Additional Director General & Anr. (and batch)

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: W.P.(C) 4831/2021 and connected matters 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: Whether Show Cause Notices (SCNs) and adjudication proceedings under the Customs Act, Finance Act, and CGST Act can be quashed due to unreasonable delays in adjudication.

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: Petitioners argued that pending proceedings and SCNs dating back as far as 2006 caused undue hardship. The authorities claimed delays were due to non-cooperation from assessees and operational challenges.

⚖️ 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The #DelhiHighCourt quashed the SCNs and pending adjudication proceedings due to inordinate delays. The court ruled that statutory timelines under Sections 73 and 74 of the CGST Act, Section 28 of the Customs Act, and Section 73 of the Finance Act must be adhered to unless exceptional circumstances justify delays.

Authorities must provide valid reasons for delays and cannot rely on administrative inertia. 📜 This ruling underscores that authorities must finalize tax adjudications within a reasonable timeframe, ensuring taxpayers are not subjected to indefinite uncertainty due to administrative delays.