Facts of the Case

The petitioner, Siddamreddy Jaffar Reddy, President of the Water Users Association, Devarayapuram, Nandyal District, and a works contractor providing services to government departments, challenged an assessment order dated 21.01.2021 (Ref. No. AAO No.ZH3701210D47908) passed under Section 73 of the CGST/SGST Act, 2017 by the Assistant Commissioner (ST), Nandyal-II Circle, demanding tax, interest and penalty on works contracts, contending that GST had not been paid to him by the Executive Engineer, DRD, K.C. Canal Division, contrary to G.O.Ms.No.58 dated 08.05.2018. He filed WRIT PETITION No. 29857 of 2023 before the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati, more than two years and ten months after the order, without having appealed it or explained the delay, also seeking to restrain coercive action and to compel the respondents to themselves pay the assessed liability.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the 2021 assessment order, unappealed and unexplained for over two years and ten months, could still be challenged in writ jurisdiction.
  2. Whether non-payment of GST by the government department on works contracts, contrary to G.O.Ms.No.58, could invalidate the Section 73 assessment order against the contractor.
  3. Whether the department could be directed to pay the assessed tax liability on the contractor's behalf.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • Claimed he was not actually aggrieved by the order dated 21.01.2021, an assertion the Court found inconsistent with the writ prayer itself.
  • The Executive Engineer failed to pay GST due on the works contract despite G.O.Ms.No.58 dated 08.05.2018, and a representation dated 22.09.2023 on this issue was still pending before that authority.
  • Until the representation is decided, the 2021 assessment order should not be implemented and no coercive action should follow.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The assessment order recorded, as a finding of fact, that the petitioner had received Rs.2,09,44,477/- for works done between April 2018 and March 2019 but filed GSTR-3B returns showing 'nil' outward taxable turnover and tax, i.e., suppression of facts.
  • The order having gone unchallenged for nearly three years, it had attained finality and could not be reopened on a ground never raised before the assessing authority.

Court Order/Findings

  • The order dated 21.01.2021 had attained finality since no statutory appeal was filed, and the writ petition, filed over two years and ten months later without explaining the delay, could not be entertained on a ground never urged before the assessing authority.
  • The plea that GST was not paid by the government department on works contracts was a factual plea requiring evidence, which a writ court would not adjudicate; in any event a contrary factual finding of suppression already stood recorded against the petitioner.
  • The pending representation dated 22.09.2023 could not justify staying implementation of the finalised order, nor could the department be directed to pay the petitioner's own assessed liability.
  • The writ petition was dismissed as without merit, with no order as to costs, and connected miscellaneous petitions closed.

Important Clarification

  • An assessment order under Section 73 that is not appealed within the statutory period attains finality, and a writ court will decline to reopen it years later on grounds never raised before the assessing authority.
  • Disputes over whether GST was factored into payments made under a government works contract are factual questions unsuited to writ adjudication, especially where the assessing authority has already recorded a contrary finding of suppression.
  • Laches in approaching the writ court — here, a delay of over two years and ten months — is itself a ground for dismissal, independent of the merits.

Sections Involved

  • Section 73, CGST/SGST Act, 2017 — determination of tax not paid, without allegation of fraud.
  • Article 226, Constitution of India — writ jurisdiction of the High Court.
  • Articles 14, 19(1)(g), 21, 265 and 300-A, Constitution of India — grounds urged by the petitioner (equality, right to trade, life, no tax without authority of law, and property), none of which were accepted.

Decision – In Favour of

The decision is in favour of the Department/Revenue. The writ petition was dismissed as without merit, the assessment order having attained finality for want of a timely statutory appeal.

Related Case Laws

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

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati
  • Case No.: WRIT PETITION No. 29857 of 2023
  • CNR: Not available on record
  • Coram: Justice Ravi Nath Tilhari and Justice A.V. Ravindra Babu
  • Decision Date: 20.11.2023
  • Disposal Nature: Dismissed as without merit (order attained finality; no timely statutory appeal filed)

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