The court ruled that recovery actions cannot occur within a statutory period following an appellate decision; thus, a prior recovery was impermissible.

ORAL ORDER

In this petition, petitioner seeks for the following reliefs:-

“ i) Declare the Provisions of section 16(2) (c) of CGST Act /SGST/ACT, 2017 as being illegal, unreasonable, arbitrary and discriminatory and therefore to be struck, down as violative of article 14, 19(1)(g) and 300A of Constitution of India.

ii) Issue of a Writ of Certiorari or other appropriate writ or order quashing the impugned adjudication order passed by the Respondent No.3, dated 30.11.2022, bearing reference no-CTO(A)-3.4/DGSTO-3/2022-23 is herewith enclosed as ANNEXURE-H and the copy of the summary adjudication order in DRC-07 bearing reference no ZD2901230041780 dated: 16.01.2023 is herewith enclosed as ANNEXURE-H1,

iii) Issue of a Writ of Certiorari or any other appropriate writ or order quashing the impugned appeal order passed by the 2^nd respondent authority on 26.12.2023 vide order bearing No. T.NO.1154/2023-24 under Section 107 (11) of the CGST/KGST Act-2017. vide Annexure-L.

iv. Issue of a Writ of Certiorari or any other appropriate writ or order quashing the impugned the form DRC-13, dated 12.01.2024 bearing no-(Audit)-3.4/DRC- 13/2023-24 is herewith enclosed as ANNEXURE-M.

V. Issue a Writ of mandamus, or orders of similar nature, the directing 3^rd respondent authority to refund an amount of Rs.15,63,108/- along with interest to the petitioner forthwith, which was recovered from the bank account of petitioner i.e., State Bank of India, Puttenahalli Branch, Bearing IFSC-SBIN0040622, Vide Account No- 64197288723, at ANNEXURE-N. ON. 12.01.2024.

vi. Grant such other orders of directions as it deems fit to this Hon’ble Court in the circumstances of the case in the interest of justice.”

2. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned HCGP for the respondents and perused the material on record.

3. It is the grievance of the petitioner that pursuant to the show cause notice dated 19.10.2022 issued by the 3^rd respondent under Section 73(1) of the KGST Act, the petitioner submitted reply dated 18.11.2022, which proceedings culminated in an order dated 30.11.2022 against the petitioner. Being aggrieved by the said order, the petitioner filed an appeal along with relevant documents which was dismissed by the 2^nd respondent – appellate authority while noticing that certain documents were not produced by the petitioner.

4. Per contra, learned HCGP for the respondents submit that there is no merit in the petition and the same is liable to be dismissed.

5. Before adverting to the rival contentions, it is profitable to extract the Circular No.224/18/2024-GST dated 11.07.2024, which reads as under:-

CircularNo.224/18/2024-GST

CBIC-20001/4/2024-GST

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs

GST Policy Wing

****

New Delhi, Dated the11^thJuly,2024

To,

The Pr.Chief Commissioners/ Chief Commissioners/ Principal

Commissioners/Commissioners of Central Tax (All)

The Principal Directors General/Directors General(All)

Madam/Sir,

Subject: Guidelines for recovery of outstanding dues, in cases wherein first appeal has been disposed of, till Appellate Tribunalcomes into operation.

Doubts have been raised by the trade and the field formations in respect of recovery of outstanding dues, in cases where the first appellate authority has confirmed the demand created by the adjudicating authority, fully or partially, and where appeal against such order of appellate authority could not be filed under section 112 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the CGST Act ’) due to non- constitution of Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as