IMPORTANT POINT
The main legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation and application of Section 140[5] of the CGST Act, 2017, and the use of the General Clauses Act, 1897 to calculate the period of thirty days from the appointed day.

JUDGMENT :

Assail is made in the present writ petition instituted under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to an Order-in-Original bearing no. 04/R-1A/CGST/2023-24 passed on 23.11.2023 by the Superintendent, GST & Central Excise, Range-1A, Division-I, Guwahati as the Adjudicating Authority.

2. In order to appreciate the nature of assail made, it is necessary to narrate the events, in brief, leading to the passing of the Order-in-Original bearing no. 04/R-1A/CGST/2023-24 on 23.11.2023 [‘the Order-in-Original’, for short], at first.

3. The petitioner, a private limited company incorporated under the Companies Act, has stated that it deals in goods like GC Sheets, etc. With the advent of the GST regime with the enactment of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and other related Acts, the petitioner company got itself registered under the GST regime vide Registration no. 18AAICS6451J4ZU.

4. In view of the provisions incorporated for transitional arrangements for input tax credit in Section 140 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 [‘the CGST Act, 2017’, for short], the petitioner filed the prescribed form in TRAN-1 and availed transitional credit of Rs. 1,73,35,575/-, out of which an amount of Rs. 17,78,225/-[‘the total TRAN Credit’, for short] was claimed under Table 7[b] of TRAN-1 on the basis of 21 nos. of invoices. Out of the total TRAN Credit amount of Rs. 17,78,225/-, an amount of Rs. 2,11,508/-[hereinafter referred to as ‘the impugned TRAN Credit’, for easy reference] was claimed against two invoices, that is,

[i] Invoice no. 1741007321 dated 28.06.2017 for Rs. 47,552/-and [ii] Invoice no. 1741007322 dated 28.06.2017 for Rs. 1,63,956/-[hereinafter collectively referred to as ‘the impugned TRAN Invoices’, for short].

5. In respect of the impugned TRAN Invoices, the respondent authorities had first issued an Objection vide Letter no. C. No. I[22]01/AG-Tran-1/R-1A/GHY/2021-22/11 dated 05.08.2021 stating inter alia that the credit claimed by the assessee-noticee to the extent of Rs. 2,11,508/-, vide the impugned TRAN Invoices, was in contravention of the provisions contained in sub-section [5] of Section 140 of the CGST Act, 2017. The ground of objection was to the effect that the impugned TRAN Invoices were entered into the recipients’ Books of Accounts on 31.07.2017 whereas Section 140[5] of the CGST Act, 2017 has prescribed for recording of such invoices in the Books of Accounts within a period of thirty days from the appointed day.

6. Thereafter, a Show Cause Notice bearing no. IV[16]03/MISC/GST/TRAN-1/R-1A/2020[Pt-1]/258 dated 26.09.2023 had been issued to the assessee-noticee by the Adjudicating Authority. In the said Show Cause Notice, the stand of the Adjudicating Authority was to the effect that though the assessee-noticee was informed vide an Objection Letter dated 05.08.2021 about inadmissibility to avail credit to the extent of Rs. 2,11,508/-beyond a period of thirty days, the assessee-noticee had neither submitted any documentary evidence in support of his alleged ineligible claim nor reversed the allegedly availed excess credit till 26.09.2023. As per the said Show Cause Notice, the total credit claimed in Table 7[b] of TRAN-1 vide the impugned TRAN Invoices was Rs. 2,11,508/-. In the said Table 7[b], the assessee-noticee had declared that the impugned TRAN Invoices, both dated 28.06.2017, had been entered in the recipients’ Books of Accounts on 31.07.2017 and the same was in contravention of Section 140[5] of the CGST Act, 2017, which emphasized on recording of the invoices in the Books of Accounts within a period of thirty days from the appointed day. In view of such fact situation, it was observed that the impugned TRAN Credit amounting to Rs. 2,11,508/-[= Rs. 47,552/-+ Rs. 1,63,956/-], availed vide the impugned TRAN Invoices, was inadmissible. It was observed that the assessee-noticee had wrongly availed credit of Central Tax to the extent of Rs. 2,11,508/-under Section 140[5] of the CGST Act