Delhi High Court admits contempt petition

Delhi High Court admits contempt petition

The action of the Goods and Services Tax department was challenged for non-compliance with the order

The Delhi High Court has admitted a petition by the British Motor Car Company (1934) Pvt. Ltd wherein it challenged the action of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) department. The latter had rejected the manual filing of the TRAN-1 Form despite being ordered by the court.

The Company filed a contempt petition for non-compliance with the May 2021 order passed by the Delhi High Court. The respondent had been directed to either reopen the online portal so as to enable the petitioner to file the TRAN-I Form electronically or before 30 June 2021, or allow it to do so manually. This could be processed in accordance with the law for claiming the tax credit.

The counsels for the petitioner, AK Babbar and Surendra Kumar stated that even on the date the writ petition was disposed of, a Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the judgment of this court in another case was pending. It was contended that the pendency of SLP could not be a reason for not complying with the court's order.

On the other hand, the revenue department claimed there was no willful default in compliance with the order passed by the court.

The court ruled, "The petitioner seeks permission to file an amended Memo of Parties by giving the name of the officer who violated the order of the court. Let this be filed before the next date of hearing."

The matter has been listed by the court on 22 July.