Facts of the Case

The petitioner, West India Construction Company, a partnership firm through its partner Ashok Kumar Jain, filed this writ petition before the High Court of Chhattisgarh, Bilaspur, against the State of Chhattisgarh (Public Health Engineering Division), the Mission Director, Jal Jeevan Mission, and the Executive Engineer/Member Secretary, District Water and Sanitation Mission. The petitioner sought a direction to the respondent authorities to decide its representation dated 13.05.2023 (Annexure P/1), claiming refund of excess GST that the petitioner was required to pay on account of the change in GST rate on works contracts from 12% to 18% with effect from 18.07.2022. The petitioner's counsel submitted that the State Government had already decided, in other departments such as PWD, Water Resources and Irrigation, to refund the excess GST arising from this rate change to contractors, but the Public Health Engineering Division had not taken a similar decision despite the pending representation.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the Public Health Engineering Division is obligated to decide the petitioner's representation seeking refund of excess GST arising from the rate revision from 12% to 18% on works contracts.
  2. Whether parity ought to be maintained with the refund treatment already extended by other State departments for identically affected contracts.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The State Government, through other departments such as PWD, Water Resources and Irrigation, had already decided to refund the excess GST arising from the rate change on works contracts, and there was no reason for the PHE Division to adopt a different stand.
  • A detailed representation dated 13.05.2023 had already been submitted to respondent No. 3 but remained undecided.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The State's counsel submitted that while the representation had to be considered by respondents 2 and 3, there was no objection to allowing the limited prayer made by the petitioner for a direction to decide it.

Court Order/Findings

  • Given the limited nature of the prayer and the State's concurrence, the writ petition was disposed of directing respondents 2 and 3 to consider the representation dated 13.05.2023 at the earliest, preferably within an outer limit of 90 days.
  • While deciding, the respondent authorities were directed to take into consideration similar decisions already taken by the State Government in respect of contracts executed by contractors with other departments such as PWD, Irrigation and Water Resources.
  • The petition was disposed of at the motion stage itself.

Important Clarification

Where the State Government has already extended the benefit of refund of excess GST — arising from a mid-contract rate revision on works contracts (here, 12% to 18% w.e.f. 18.07.2022) — to contractors under some departments, a contractor facing similar excess GST liability under another department can seek a writ direction requiring that department to decide its refund representation within a fixed period, with an express instruction that parity with the treatment given by sister departments be considered.

Sections Involved

  • Central/Chhattisgarh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — governs the rate of tax applicable to works contracts and the change in rate from 12% to 18% effective 18.07.2022.
  • Article 226, Constitution of India — writ jurisdiction invoked to seek a time-bound direction on the pending refund representation.

Decision – In Favour of

Disposed of with directions, in part in favour of the Assessee/Petitioner — the Court secured a time-bound direction for consideration of the refund representation with parity guidance, but did not itself adjudicate or grant the refund, leaving that decision to the departmental authorities.

Related Case Laws

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

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Chhattisgarh, Bilaspur
  • Case No.: WPC No. 5009 of 2023
  • CNR: Not available
  • Coram: Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi
  • Decision Date: 1 December 2023
  • Disposal Nature: Disposed of with directions

Link to Download the Order

Download the full judgment (PDF)

Disclaimer

This content is shared strictly for general information and knowledge purposes only. Readers should independently verify the information from reliable sources. It is not intended to provide legal, professional, or advisory guidance. The author and the organisation disclaim all liability arising from the use of this content. The material has been prepared with the assistance of AI tools.