Facts of the Case

The petitioner, Himanshu Pradhan, filed W.P.(C) No.35043 of 2023 before the High Court of Orissa at Cuttack against the Commissioner of CT & GST, Odisha and other opposite parties, in connection with proceedings under the Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. Like a number of similarly placed matters before the same Bench, the petition was taken up through the hybrid mode of hearing on 7th November 2023 before the Acting Chief Justice and a companion Judge. Instead of being argued and decided independently, the Bench found that the grievance raised was identical to the questions already decided by the Court's common order dated 6th November 2023 in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and a batch of connected writ petitions styled M/s. Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the petitioner's grievance against the State CT & GST authority stood covered by the common order already passed in the lead batch matter.
  2. Whether any distinct adjudication of this petitioner's individual facts was warranted.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner's counsel proceeded on the basis that the issue raised was materially identical to that already decided in the batch of writ petitions led by W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023.
  • No submissions distinguishing this petitioner's facts from the lead matter are recorded in the order.

Respondent's Arguments

  • Counsel for the Revenue did not oppose disposal of the petition on the footing of the common order already rendered in the batch matter.
  • No separate contentions specific to this petitioner appear on the record of the order.

Court Order/Findings

  • The Bench found the petition to be squarely covered by the common order dated 6th November 2023 passed in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and batch.
  • The Court held that the writ petition is disposed of in terms of the said common order, without recording independent reasons for this petitioner.
  • No additional liberty or direction beyond adoption of the batch order appears in the operative portion.

Important Clarification

Where a batch of writ petitions raises a common controversy against the State CT & GST authorities, the High Court's practice of disposing of connected matters by adopting the lead order avoids duplicative reasoning while still granting each petitioner the benefit of the decision in the batch.

Sections Involved

  • Provisions of the Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 as considered in the lead batch matter, W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023.
  • Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Decision – In Favour of

This short order is procedural in character, disposing of the petition by adopting the common batch order rather than independently deciding the petitioner's grievance. No forced clean win can be assigned to either party from this order alone; the substantive outcome depends on the findings recorded in the lead matter, W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023, which the present order simply follows.

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.35043 of 2023
  • CNR: Not available
  • Coram: Acting Chief Justice Dr. B.R. Sarangi and Justice Murahari Sri Raman
  • Decision Date: 07-11-2023
  • Disposal Nature: Disposed of in terms of a common order in a batch of GST writ petitions

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.