Facts of the Case

M/s. Choudhury Infra India Pvt. Ltd., a taxpayer carrying on business at Boudha, filed the present writ petition against the Addl. CT and GST Officer, Boudha and other opposite parties under the Odisha Goods and Services Tax regime. The matter was taken up through hybrid mode before the Division Bench of the Orissa High Court at Cuttack. Without recording independent facts or reasons, the Court disposed of the writ petition in terms of the common order dated 06.11.2023 passed by the same Bench in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and a batch of connected writ petitions, titled M/s. Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others. The text of that common order does not form part of, and is not reproduced in, the short order under report.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the petitioner's grievance against the Addl. CT and GST Officer, Boudha, was covered by the common order already passed in the connected batch of writ petitions.
  2. Whether the present petition could be disposed of by adopting the findings/directions of that common order without independent adjudication.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The order under report does not record any separately argued submissions by the petitioner; the writ petition appears to have raised the same or a similar GST grievance as was raised in the batch of connected petitions led by M/s. Pravat Kumar Choudhury.
  • By seeking disposal in terms of the common order, the petitioner is taken to have accepted that its cause was covered by the findings and directions recorded in that common order.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The order does not record any separate submissions advanced on behalf of the Addl. CT and GST Officer, Boudha, or the other opposite parties.
  • Standing Counsel for the CT & GST Department, and for CGST, Central Excise & Customs, entered appearance, consistent with the department's standard practice in the batch of connected matters.

Court Order/Findings

  • The matter was taken up through hybrid mode before the Division Bench.
  • The Court disposed of the writ petition strictly in terms of the common order dated 06.11.2023 passed in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and batch (M/s. Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others), without recording independent reasons in the present order.
  • No separate liberty, cost order, or further direction is recorded in this order.

Important Clarification

  • Where a High Court disposes of a writ petition "in terms of" a common order in a batch matter, the operative ratio and directions actually applicable to the petitioner are found in that common order (here, M/s. Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others, dated 06.11.2023 in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023), not in the short disposal order itself.
  • Practitioners tracking this line of Orissa GST writ petitions should independently obtain and rely upon the common order dated 06.11.2023 in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 for the substantive findings governing similarly placed taxpayers.
  • Standing alone, this order is not useful precedent on any GST question; its value lies only in confirming that the petitioner's case was treated as covered by the common order.

Sections Involved

  • No specific provision of the CGST/OGST Act, 2017 is discussed or cited in this short disposal order; any substantive statutory analysis lies in the common order dated 06.11.2023 referred to above.

Decision – In Favour of

The order is a procedural disposal without an independent merits determination; it records no finding of the petition being decided wholly in favour of either the assessee or the department. It is best described as disposed of in terms of a common order, whose actual outcome for similarly placed taxpayers cannot be determined without reference to that common 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.25929 of 2023
  • CNR: Not available on record
  • Coram: Acting Chief Justice Dr. B.R. Sarangi and Mr. Justice Murahari Sri Raman
  • Decision Date: 08.11.2023
  • Disposal Nature: Disposed of in terms of common order dated 06.11.2023 in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and batch

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