Facts of the Case

The petitioner, Puspanjali Acharya, filed the present writ petition before the High Court of Orissa at Cuttack against the Commissioner of CT and GST, Odisha, and other opposite parties, challenging action taken by the GST department. The matter was taken up through hybrid mode, with Mr. Prabodha Chandra Nayak appearing for the petitioner and Mr. Sunil Mishra, Standing Counsel, along with other Additional Standing Counsel, appearing for the CT & GST Department. Rather than being argued afresh, the writ petition was disposed of together with a batch of similar matters already decided by the same Bench a short while earlier, on 6th November, 2023, in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and connected writ petitions, in the case of M/s. Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others. The present order does not itself set out the underlying facts of the petitioner's individual GST dispute.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the petitioner's writ petition, raising a grievance against GST proceedings similar to those considered in the batch of writ petitions led by M/s. Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others, could be disposed of by applying the common order passed in that batch.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • No separate arguments distinct from those already advanced in the lead batch matter, M/s. Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others, are recorded in the present order; the petitioner's grievance was treated as covered by that common order.

Respondent's Arguments

  • No independent submissions are recorded on behalf of the Commissioner, CT and GST, Odisha, and the other opposite parties in the present order, the matter having been disposed of by applying the common order in the Pravat Kumar Choudhury batch.

Court Order/Findings

  • Disposed of the writ petition in terms of the common order passed by it on 6th November, 2023 in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and Batch of Writ Petitions (M/s. Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others), without recording independent reasoning in the present order.
  • The disposal extended whatever relief and directions were granted in the lead batch matter to the present petitioner's case.

Important Clarification

  • Where the Orissa High Court has already decided a batch of writ petitions raising a common GST grievance, such as the Pravat Kumar Choudhury batch, subsequent similar petitions are frequently disposed of by simply applying the common order, without independent reasoning being recorded.
  • Readers seeking to understand the substantive basis of relief granted in such orders should refer to the lead batch judgment (here, W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and connected matters) rather than this order, which does not itself set out the reasoning.

Sections Involved

  • Section 73 of the Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 – governs determination and demand of GST not paid or short paid, typically the subject matter involved in disposals following the Pravat Kumar Choudhury batch.
  • Section 107 of the Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 – provides for statutory appeal against orders passed by the adjudicating authority under the OGST Act.

Decision – In Favour of

This order does not itself record a substantive finding in favour of either side; it simply applies the common order passed in the batch led by M/s. Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others to the petitioner's case. Based on the nature of such batch disposals by the Cuttack Bench, the outcome is likely procedural relief in favour of the Assessee, though this cannot be independently confirmed from the text of the present order alone.

Related Case Laws

No directly on-point case notes are currently published on this site.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Orissa at Cuttack
  • Case No.: W.P.(C) No.28288 of 2023
  • CNR: Not available
  • Coram: Acting Chief Justice Dr. B. R. Sarangi and Justice Murahari Sri Raman
  • Decision Date: 08-11-2023
  • Disposal Nature: Disposed of, following batch precedent (Pravat Kumar Choudhury)

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