IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 6833 of 2025 FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:

HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BHARGAV D. KARIA and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRANAV TRIVEDI ==========================================================

Approved for Reporting Yes No ==========================================================

M/S. AJANTA PHARMA LIMITED Versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

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Appearance:

ANANDODAYA S MISHRA(8038) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1 MR ANKIT SHAH(6371) for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2,3 ==========================================================

CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BHARGAV D. KARIA and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRANAV TRIVEDI Date : 16/10/2025

ORAL JUDGMENT

(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRANAV TRIVEDI)

1 Heard learned advocate Mr.Anandodaya Mishra for the petitioner and learned advocate Mr.Ankit Shah for the respondents.

2 Rule returnable forthwith. Learned advocate Mr.Ankit Shah for the respondent waives service of notice of rule for and on behalf of the respondents.

3 As the issue involved in this petition is in a narrow compass, with the consent of the learned advocates for the respective parties, the matter is taken up for final hearing.

4 The petition is preferred making prayer to quash and set aside the impugned order dated 18.02.2025 passed by the learned Additional Commissioner (Appeals), CGST, Vadodara under the provisions of Sec.107 of the Central Goods & Service Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’ for short) and further allow the refund application preferred by the petitioner under the provisions of Sec.54(3) of the Act and under Rule 89(4) of the CGST Rules, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Rules’ for short).

5 The brief facts leading to filing of the present writ petition are as under:

5.1 The petitioner is a Special Economic Zone Unit (SEZ) engaged in the business of manufacturing and distributing medicines worldwide inter alia authorized to operate at Special Economic Zone at Dahej District. The petitioner is also registered under the provisions of the Act.

5.2 It is the case of the petitioner that it being the SEZ Unit, is the recipient of input services which are proportionately distributed by the Input Service Distributor (ISD) in accordance with the provisions of the Act. On the distribution of input services, the petitioner attracts Integrated Goods and Service Tax i.e. I.G.S.T. However, the petitioner is making zero rated supplies, and therefore, the petitioner is not able to utilize the credit that has been lying in the Electronic Credit Ledger. Therefore, when the petitioner is not in a position to utilize the Input Tax Credit, various refund applications dated 24.08.2023, 10.11.2023 and 31.01.2024 for quarters April 2023 to June 2023, July 2023 to September 2023 and October 2023 to December 2023 respectively, came to be preferred by the petitioner in Form GST RFD- 01 under the provisions of Sec.54 of the Act under the category of ‘Export of Goods / Services without payment of Tax’. The refund applications came to be preferred along with the requisite documents.

5.3 The applications preferred by the petitioner was allowed and the refund claim by the petitioner was sanctioned by the Assistant Commissioner, Division- VII, CGST, Vadodara-II, vide sanction orders dated 05.10.2023, 11.12.2023 and 05.03.2024 for quarters April 2023 to June 2023, July 2023 to September 2023 and October 2023 to December 2023 respectively passed in Form GST RFD-06. The Adjudicating Authority also issued corrigendums dated 29.02.2024 and 19.04.2024 and modified the Refund Sanction Order dated 05.10.2023 and 05.032024 respectively in view of settled law by this Court in the case of Britannia Industries Limited vs. Union of India., reported in 2020 (42) GSTL.3 (Guj.)., and also in view of the fact that the SLP preferred against the decision of this Court had been withdrawn.

5.4 It is the case of the petitioner that the Commissioner, Cent