Tai Tajik and Anr v. Union of India and 3 Ors

ORDER

20.11.2023 Heard Mr B K Mahajan, learned counsel for the petitioners, Tai Tajik and Kazi Motiur Rahman.

¶2The petitioners have filed this application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a writ in the nature of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ or order or direction.

¶3The petitioners' case is that the petitioner No. 1 is the proprietor of a firm, namely, M/s R T T Enterprise at 'C' Sector, Opp. BSNL GMT Office, Bank Tiniali, Papumpare, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. Petitioner No. 2 is an associate of petitioner No. 1. A Search Authorization dated 07.10.2023, was issued by the Additional Director of DGGI, Guwahati Zonal Unit and, thereafter, search operation was conducted under Sub-Section

(2) of Section 67 of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, in the office premises of M/s R T T Enterprises, in the absence of the petitioners and several articles were seized. The petitioners are apprehending that coercive action may be taken against them. Page No.# 3/3

¶4Heard Mr S C Keyal, learned Standing Counsel, CGST.

¶5Learned Standing Counsel, Mr S C Keyal has accepted notices on behalf of respondent Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4. So, no formal notice is required to be issued to the respondents.

¶6Meanwhile, sufficient copies may be furnished to the respondents.

¶7I have considered the submissions at the Bar.

¶8It is submitted on behalf of the petitioners that an amount of Rs. 2,51,04,730/- has been voluntarily paid as per Section 74(5) of the CGST Act and the petitioners are willing to pay the GST, in accordance with law, but assessment is not yet complete. It is also submitted that the petitioners are willing to appear before the IO with relevant documents and cooperate with the investigation.

¶9Both the parties have relied on the decision of Hon'ble the Supreme Court in State of Gujarat vs-Choodamani Parmeshwaran Iyer, in connection with Criminal Appeal Nos. of 2023, arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 4212-4213 of 2019, decided on 17th July, 2023, whereby the respondents were directed to appear before the authorities for the purpose of recording their statements.

¶10In this case at hand, I deem it proper to pass an order directing the petitioners to appear before the Investigating Officer and the respondent authorities, for the purpose of recording their statements within 10 days from today and only if the petitioners fail to appear, then it shall be open for the authority concerned to proceed further in accordance with law. In the event of violation by either side, each party would be at liberty to approach the proper forum for redressal.

¶11In terms of the above observations, petition is disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010249002023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oW.P.(Crl.)/40/2023o TAIoTAJIKoANDoANR.o S/OoTAIoTAAo R/OoSENKIoVIEW,oITANAGAR,o PAPUMPARE,oARUNACHALoPRADESH,oPIN-791111 2:oKAZIoMOTIURoRAHMAN oS/OoKAZIoMOHAMMADoHUSSAINo R/OoH-45 oT.T.oMARGoOPPOSITEoHOTELoTSANGPO oBANKoTINALI oDIST.oPAPUMPARE oITANAGAR oARUNACHALoPRADESH oPIN-791111o VERSUSo UNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo3oORS.o REP.oBYoADDITIONALoDIRECTORoGENERAL,o DIRECTORATEoGENERALoOFoGOODSoANDoSERVICEoTAXoINTELLIGENCE,o GUWAHATIoZONALoUNIT,oGUWAHATI,oTHROUGHoSTANDINGoCOUNSEL,o GST. 2:MR.oDEBANGSHUoCHAKRABORTY oSENIORoINTELLIGENCEoOFFICER o DGGI oGUWAHATIoZONALoUNIT oTHROUGHoCOUNSEL oGST. 3:MRoNIZAMUDDINoAHMED oSENIORoINTELLIGENCEoOFFICER o Page No.# 2/3 DGGI GUWAHATI ZONAL UNIT THROUGH STANDING COUNSEL GST. 4:MUKUL GAUR INTELLIGENCE OFFICER DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF GOODS AND SERVICE TAX INTELLIGENCE AT GUWAHATI THROUGH STANDING COUNSEL GST Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. B K MAHAJAN Advocate for the Respondent : SC, GST BEFORE HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE SUSMITA PHUKAN KHAUND