In Writ Petition No.1588 of 2023 – AP HC – GST:  Jai Bharath Travels' plea granted; Andhra Pradesh High Court orders fresh assessment based on separate turnover data for multiple states
Justice U. Durga Prasad Rao & Justice T. Mallikarjuna Rao [09-05-2023]

Read Order: JBT (Jai Bharath Travels) V. The Deputy Commissioner (ST)

Chahat Varma

New Delhi, May 26, 2023: The writ petition filed by Jai Bharath Travels (petitioner) has been allowed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, and the order dated 15.12.2022, passed by the Deputy Commissioner (ST), Special Circle, Chittoor Division (1st respondent) under the State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, for the tax periods 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20 (up to November 2019) has been set aside. The petitioner has been granted liberty to submit the relevant records showing the turnover of their bus business separately for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry. The Authorities have been instructed to conduct a fresh assessment in accordance with law.

Brief facts of the case were that the petitioner was engaged in plying passenger buses in different States i.e., Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. They had challenged the impugned order dated 15.12.2022, which wrongly assessed them to tax for the total turnover in multiple states. The petitioner argued that as per the statute, they should only be assessed to tax for the turnover related to Andhra Pradesh, and the turnover in other states should be taxed as per the relevant statutes of those states.

The court found merit in the petitioner's claim and deemed it appropriate to grant them an opportunity to furnish separate turnover data for Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Puducherry.