Facts of the Case

The petitioner, Sanjay Kumar Nayak, represented by Mr. A.K. Biswal, Advocate, filed W.P.(C) No.35107 of 2023 before the High Court of Orissa at Cuttack against the Commissioner of CT & GST, Odisha and others, who were represented by Mr. Sunil Mishra, Standing Counsel, along with Mr. Diganta Das, Mr. Sheshadeba Das and Mr. Ananda Das, Additional Standing Counsel for the CT & GST Department. The matter was taken up through hybrid mode by a Division Bench comprising the Acting Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Murahari Sri Raman. On 8 November 2023, the Court disposed of the writ petition in terms of a common order dated 6 November 2023 passed 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. Because the order is a short tag-along disposal that adopts the reasoning of the lead batch matter, it does not itself set out the specific facts, notice, or demand under the Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 that gave rise to the petitioner's individual grievance.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the petitioner's writ petition, being one of a batch of connected GST department matters, should be disposed of on the same terms as the common order dated 06.11.2023 passed in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and batch (Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others).

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The order does not independently record any submissions made on behalf of the petitioner; the Registry treated the matter as connected with, and governed by, the batch led by W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 (Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others).
  • No separate grounds specific to Sanjay Kumar Nayak's own dispute with the Commissioner of CT & GST are set out in this order.

Respondent's Arguments

  • No separate submissions of the Commissioner of CT & GST, Odisha and the other opposite parties, represented by the Standing Counsel for the CT & GST Department, are recorded in this order.
  • The respondents' position is, by implication, treated as governed by whatever stand they took in the lead batch matter, W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023.

Court Order/Findings

  • The Division Bench took up the matter through hybrid mode and did not record any independent reasoning specific to this petitioner.
  • The Court disposed of the writ petition in terms of the common order dated 06.11.2023 passed in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and batch (Pravat Kumar Choudhury and others v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST, Cuttack and others), applying that order's outcome to the present petitioner without separately restating the reasoning.
  • No distinct liberty or direction confined to this petitioner is recorded; whatever relief or directions were granted apply as per the terms of the lead common order.

Important Clarification

  • A "disposed of in terms of common order" disposal is standard High Court practice where the point of law or fact has already been decided in a lead matter and is then applied uniformly to connected writ petitions raising the same grievance.
  • Practitioners tracking Orissa High Court GST batch litigation involving the CT & GST Department should independently obtain and read the common order dated 06.11.2023 in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and batch, since the operative reasoning and directions actually lie there, not in this short order.

Sections Involved

  • Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 - the governing statute under which the Commissioner of CT & GST, Odisha exercises jurisdiction; the specific provision under challenge is not identified in this order.
  • Article 226, Constitution of India - the writ jurisdiction invoked to challenge the department's action, applied here as part of a batch of connected petitions.

Decision – In Favour of

This is a purely procedural, tag-along disposal that adopts the outcome of a lead batch matter without independently recording facts, arguments, or reasons for this petitioner. On the face of this order alone, no clean finding in favour of either the Assessee or the Department can be recorded for Sanjay Kumar Nayak individually; the actual outcome mirrors whatever relief was granted in the lead matter, W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and batch, which is not reproduced here.

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.35107 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.6684/2023 and batch (Pravat Kumar Choudhury v. Additional State Tax Officer, CT & GST)

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