1. The short question involved in this writ petition is, whether the petitioner is entitled to be issued C-Form under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 read with the Central Sales Tax (Registration and Turnover) Rules, 1957 in respect of high speed diesel purchased by it in the course of inter-State trade and used by it in the course of manufacturing of cement, after the promulgation of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 with effect from 1-7-2017.

2. According to the petitioner, it is a Company registered under the provisions of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (for short, 'the CST Act, 1956') read with the Central Sales Tax (Registration and Turnover) Rules, 1957 (for short, 'the Rules of 1957') and its certificate of registration is valid as on the present date. The petitioner Company is engaged in mining activity of limestone which is used for manufacturing of cement and for which High Speed Diesel is used. The petitioner Company was permitted to purchase goods in the course of inter-State trade at the rates specified in Section 8(1) of the CST Act, 1956. The petitioner was also having registration certificate under the provisions of the Chhattisgarh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 and with the introduction of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (for short, the CGST Act, 2017), the petitioner has also been registered under the CGST Act, 2017 with effect from 1-7-2017. It is the case of the petitioner that the respondent Department had been issuing C-Forms to the petitioner Company till 30-6-2017 for the goods covered under Section 2(d) of the CST Act, 1956 and as specified in the certificate of registration of the dealer for use in terms of Section 8 of the CST Act, 1956, but with effect from 1-7-2017, from coming into force of the CGST Act, 2017, C-Form is not being issued and / or withheld by showing error message that “ED9: Invoice date should be less than 1st July, 2017”.

3. The petitioner has filed this writ petition stating inter alia that its registration certificate is with regard to High Speed Diesel covered under the definition of “goods” defined in clause (d) of Section 2 of the CST Act, 1956 duly amended with effect from 4-5-2017 published in the Official Gazette on 5-5-2017 and excluded from the purview of the CGST Act, 2017 by virtue of the provisions contained in Section 9(2) of the CGST Act, 2017, as till this date, the GST Council has not recommended bringing High Speed Diesel within the purview of the CGST Act, 2017 and therefore it has not been notified by the Central Government, yet on extraneous consideration, C-Form is not being issued to the petitioner Company which the petitioner Company is otherwise entitled under Section 8(3)(b) of the CST Act, 1956 read with the Rules of 1957, which is absolutely illegal and bad in law.

4. On notice being issued, respondents No.1 to 3 / State has filed its joint return opposing the writ petition filed by the petitioner. It has been stated that the petitioner was a registered dealer under the provisions of the CST Act, 1956 and the Chhattisgarh Value Added Tax Act, 2005. After the roll-out of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, the petitioner / dealer has been migrated to the GST regime by virtue of the provisions contained in Section 139 of the CGST Act, 2017 and the provisions of the CGST Act, 2017 as such, the petitioner's previous registration under the CST Act, 1956 is no more valid and, therefore, the petitioner has rightly been denied the privilege of C-Form, as under the provisions of the CST Act, 1956, C-Form has to be issued only to the registered dealer under the said Act. Therefore, the petitioner's registration under the CST Act, 1956 stood cancelled upon the petitioner's registration under the CGST Act, 2017 and thus, the petitioner is not entitled for the privilege of C-Form under the CST Act, 1956 read with the Rules of 1957. It has further been stated that the petitioner has not availed the facility of C-Form so far as High