APHC010454232023 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI [3529]

(Special Original Jurisdiction)

MONDAY, THE TWENTY SEVENTH DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY SIX PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE R RAGHUNANDAN RAO THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE T.C.D.SEKHAR W.P.No.23535, 31934 of 2023, 7867 and 26414 of 2025 and W.P.9123 of

2026 WRIT PETITION NOs: 23535 of 2023 Between:

1. J AWAHARLAL NEHRU TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY KAKINADA (JNTUK), REPRESENTED BY ITS REGISTRAR, PITHAPURAM ROAD, KAKINADA, EAST GODAVARI DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH-533 003 ...PETITIONER AND

1. T HE PRINCIAPL COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL TAX, VISAKHAPATNAM CGST COMMISSIONERATE, GST BHAVAN, PORT AREA, VISAKHAPATNAM-530 035

2. T HE ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL TAX, OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER- OF CENTRAL TAX, VISAKHAPATNAM CGST COMMISSIONERATE, GST BHAVAN, PORT AREA, VISAKHAPATNAM-530 035

3. T HE UNION OF INDIA, THROUGH ITS REVENUE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, MINISTRY OF FINANCE, 128-

A/NORTH BLOCK, NEW DELHI ...RESPONDENT(S):

Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to issue a Writ, Order or Direction particularly one in the nature of 'WRIT OF MANDAMUS' a)Setting aside the Order-in-Original No. VSP- CGST-ADC 08-23-24 dt.06.06.2023 demanding Goods and Services Tax for an amount of Rs. 2,64,87,723/- along with interest and penalties as being arbitrary, illegal, perverse, and contrary to the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and Rules made thereunder. and b)Pass IA NO: 1 OF 2023 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased For the reasons stated in the affidavit filed in support of the above Writ Petition, the petitioner prays that this Honourable Court to direct Respondent No.2 to refrain from recovery of the demands confirmed in the Order-in- Original No. VSP-CGST-ADC-08-23-24 dt.06.06.2023 passed by the Respondent No.2 and pass such other order or orders as the Honourable Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case IA NO: 2 OF 2023 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased pleased to vacate the interim order passed in LA No. 1 of 2023 in dt.11.10.2023 in W P No. 23535 of 2023 and to pass Counsel for the Petitioner:

1. LAKSHMI KUMARAN SRIDHARAN Counsel for the Respondent(S):

1. HARINATH N (DEPUTY SOLICITOR GENERAL OF INDIA))

2. SANTHI CHANDRA (Jr. Standing Counsel for CBIC)

Date of Judgment Reserved : 07.04.2026 Date of Pronouncement : 27.04.2026 Date of Upload : 27.04.2026 The Court made the following common order:

(per Hon‟ble Sri Justice R. Raghunandan Rao)

As the issues raised in all these Writ Petitions are common, they are being disposed of, by way of this common order.

2. The petitioners, in all these Writ Petitions are Public Universities, established by the State of Andhra Pradesh, by way of different Acts. All these Universities have suffered orders of assessment, calling upon the petitioners to pay GST on the affiliation fees and No Objection Certificate (NOC) fees received by these Universities, from their affiliated colleges. The details of the orders of assessment etc., are given herein below:

3. The petitioners have been established under different Acts. The details of these Acts are given below:

4. The assessing authorities in all these cases have sought to tax the receipt of affiliation fees and N.O.C fees, under the GST Act, on the ground that the fees had been paid for services rendered by the respective Universities and the same is taxable under the GST Act. The petitioners had objected to the said taxation, on the ground that they are universities incorporated under the respective Acts, passed by the Andhra Pradesh State Legislature and the affiliation fee and statu