Facts of the Case

The petitioner, M/s. Sudarshan Pradhan, filed a writ petition before the High Court of Orissa at Cuttack against the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes and Goods and Services Tax, Odisha, and other opposite parties. The matter was taken up through hybrid mode on 08.11.2023 before a Division Bench comprising the Acting Chief Justice and a companion judge, and was disposed of without an independent judgment, instead being governed by a common order passed by the same Bench two days earlier, on 06.11.2023, in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and a batch of connected writ petitions led by M/s. Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others. The text of the present order does not itself set out the underlying facts or the GST issue raised by the petitioner, as these were addressed in the lead batch matter.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the petitioner's grievance was substantially identical to, and governed by, the issues decided in the common batch order dated 06.11.2023 in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and connected matters.
  2. Whether a separate, independently reasoned order was necessary once the lead matter had already been decided.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner's counsel, Mr. K.K. Sahoo, appears to have relied on the case having been treated as covered by, or connected to, the batch of writ petitions decided by the common order dated 06.11.2023, seeking parity of treatment with the lead matters.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The State's Standing Counsel and Additional Standing Counsel for the CT & GST Department did not record any separate opposition distinct from the position already taken in the common batch matter, consistent with disposal of the present petition on the same terms as that order.

Court Order/Findings

  • The Court, without recording independent reasoning, held that the present writ petition is disposed of in terms of the common order passed 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).
  • No separate findings, directions, or reasoning specific to the petitioner's own facts are recorded in the order as extracted; the disposal is entirely by reference to, and adoption of, the terms of the lead common order.

Important Clarification

Where a High Court has already decided a batch of connected GST writ petitions raising a common question by a detailed common order, subsequent similarly placed petitions are frequently disposed of by simply applying that common order, without repeating the reasoning. A reader relying on such a "disposed of in terms of" order should locate and examine the underlying common order (here, the order dated 06.11.2023 in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and batch) to understand the actual ratio, reasoning and operative directions that ultimately govern the petitioner's own case.

Sections Involved

  • Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — the general statute under which the petitioner's grievance against the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes and GST, Odisha, arose, though the specific provision is not set out in this order.
  • Article 226, Constitution of India — the writ jurisdiction invoked, disposed of by reference to the batch common order.

Decision – In Favour of

This order records no independent finding on merits; it is a purely administrative disposal by reference to a common order passed in a separate lead batch of matters before the same Bench. Without the text of that common order in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and batch, it cannot honestly be said whether the outcome favours the Assessee or the Department, or in what proportion, for this individual petitioner. It should be treated as a neutral, procedural disposal rather than a substantive holding on any GST question, and a reader interested in the actual ratio must consult the lead common order itself rather than this reference order.

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.30369 of 2023
  • CNR: Not available
  • Coram: Acting Chief Justice Dr. B.R. Sarangi and Mr. Justice Murahari Sri Raman
  • Decision Date: 2023-11-08
  • Disposal Nature: Disposed of in terms of common order

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