Facts of the Case

The petitioner's bank account was frozen on 7th March 2025 pursuant to a provisional attachment under Section 83 of the CGST Act, 2017. By the time the petition came up for hearing, the statutory one-year freezing period under Section 83 had already expired on 6th March 2026, yet the account remained frozen and the petitioner sought a direction to defreeze it.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether a bank account attached under Section 83 of the CGST Act can continue to be frozen once the statutory one-year period from the date of attachment has expired.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The statutory period of one year for the provisional attachment under Section 83 had already lapsed, and the freeze ought to be lifted.

Respondent's Arguments

  • Represented by Senior Standing Counsel for the Directorate General of GST Intelligence; no substantive opposition to the lapse of the statutory period is recorded.

Court Order / Findings

  • Section 83 of the CGST Act provides that a provisional attachment ceases to have effect after the expiry of one year from the date of the order, and since that period had already expired on 6th March 2026, there was no reason to continue the freeze.
  • The Court declared that the petitioner's bank account was out of the freezing order, since the statutory one-year period had lapsed, if not required for any other proceeding, and directed the respondents to forthwith take steps to defreeze the account.

Important Clarification

  • A provisional bank-account attachment under Section 83 of the CGST Act automatically ceases to operate on the expiry of one year from the date of the attachment order; the taxpayer need not wait for a fresh order lifting it, and courts will readily direct defreezing once this statutory time-limit has run out.

Sections Involved

  • Section 83, CGST Act, 2017 -- provisional attachment of property, including bank accounts, to protect revenue, ceasing to have effect after one year.

Decision – In Favour of

Assessee. The bank account was directed to be defreezed since the one-year statutory period of provisional attachment under Section 83 had expired.

Case Details

High Court of Delhi at New Delhi; W.P.(C) 3702/2026 & CM APPL. 18072/2026, 18073/2026; Coram: Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Ajay Digpaul; Order dated 23.03.2026.

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