📰 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 📢 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁’𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: "The taxpayer is required to deposit the entire disputed demand within 15 days to avail a writ remedy due to the non-constitution of GSTAT."

🔍 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: 𝗞𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗻𝗮 𝗠𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗮 𝘃. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗧 & 𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁: Orissa High Court 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 09-Aug-2023

𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: Whether a taxpayer can pursue a writ petition for GST disputes without depositing the entire disputed amount, given that the GSTAT has not yet been constituted.

𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: The petitioner challenged a demand imposed by the GST authorities, seeking a writ remedy in the High Court due to the non-existence of the GSTAT. The petitioner did not show any urgency or specific hardship to justify bypassing the statutory appeal process.

⚖ 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The court ruled that, in cases where the GSTAT is not constituted, a taxpayer wishing to pursue a writ remedy must deposit the full disputed tax amount within 15 days. This ensures that the statutory framework of GST appeals is respected, and the court emphasized that alternative remedies must be exhausted before pursuing a writ.

📜 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: This ruling underlines the court's reluctance to allow taxpayers to circumvent statutory processes due to administrative delays in the GSTAT’s constitution. Taxpayers facing GST demands will now need to carefully consider alternative remedies and be prepared to deposit the disputed amount if they wish to pursue a writ. This decision impacts taxpayers by reinforcing procedural compliance and emphasizing the temporary nature of writ remedies when statutory authorities are pending setup.