SARVASIDDHI AGROTECH PVT. LTD. Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner has challenged an order in original dated 03.07.2020 passed by the Assistant Commissioner of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST, for short), Tripura.

(2.) Brief facts are that the petitioner is a company registered under the Companies Act and is engaged in manufacturing, packaging and supply of Non-Basmati rice. On 17.07.2018 the CGST officers visited the premises of the petitioner and seized 3204 rice bags under a seizure memo. On the premise that the petitioner had evaded payment of GST, the department issued a show-cause notice dated 12.03.2019. Case of the department was that the petitioner was selling packaged marked rice with registered trademark which activity, after 22.09.2017 was subject to Central as well as State GST which the petitioner had not paid. Under the show-cause notice, therefore, the petitioner was called upon to state why the unpaid GST not be recovered from the petitioner on the seized value of the rice stock as well as on the sale of rice with registered trademark for the period between 22.09.2017 till the date of seizure i.e. 17.07.2018.

(3.) The petitioner opposed such proposals. The main ground of the petitioner was that till 22.09.2017 supply of rice did not invite any GST. Post 22.09.2017 GST was levied only on the supply of packaged marked rice with registered trademark in which the petitioner was not engaged. The petitioner was not selling packaged marked rice with registered trademark. With respect to the contention of the department that at the time of the seizure the stock was separated into different categories such as, Aahar Normal, Aahar Gold and Aahar Premium, according to the petitioner, the same was done only for the internal purposes. With respect to finding rice bags with packaged markings, the petitioner put up a difference that the same was being supplied prior to 22.09.2017. Some old stock was returned due to quality disputes which were lying in the godown of the petitioner and that in any case, after 22.09.2017 when GST was introduced on sale of rice with packaged marking of registered trademark, the petitioner had discontinued sale of such rice.