19 Supreme Court decisions on GST, by subject

Sections 17(5)(c) and (d) are constitutionally valid; plant or machinery in clause (d) is distinct from the defined plant and machinery, and a building may qualify as a plant on a functionality test decided on facts. Overtaken for clause (d) by the retrospective substitution in the Finance Act, 2025.

Used for: The interpretive method, the plant and machinery bifurcation, and the challenge to the retrospective amendment.

The purchasing dealer bears the burden of proving the genuineness of the transaction and the actual movement of goods; invoices and payment particulars alone are insufficient.

Used for: The standard of proof in every credit dispute. Discharge it rather than contest it.

Directed GSTN to open the portal for filing and revising TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 from 1 September to 30 November 2022 for all aggrieved persons, with verification within ninety days.

Used for: Transitional credit rejections passed in the verification window, and claims outside the forms.

Rectification of GSTR-3B for past periods cannot be directed outside the statutory mechanism; the taxpayer self assesses from its own records and corrects errors in the return for the period in which they are noticed.

Used for: Return correction disputes, and the value of a contemporaneous portal grievance ticket.

Set aside the Gujarat High Court's view that GSTR-3B is not a return under Section 39, upholding the retrospective amendment to Rule 61(5); the Section 16(4) window is therefore computed with reference to GSTR-3B.

Used for: Closes the argument that GSTR-3B is not the return for Section 16(4).

Interest on delayed refund under Section 56 is payable at the statutory rate of six percent; the High Court could not award a higher rate of nine percent absent a finding of inordinate delay warranting it.

Used for: Interest claims on delayed refunds; the statutory rate governs.

Provisional attachment under Section 83 is draconian and strictly construed; the opinion must rest on tangible material with a live link to the necessity of protecting revenue, reasons must be recorded and communicated, and a writ is maintainable despite an alternative remedy where jurisdiction is lacking.

Used for: Every bank account attachment.

Arrest provisions under the GST and customs statutes are valid; grounds of arrest must be furnished in writing, reasons to believe must pre exist on material, criminal procedure safeguards apply, and coercive recovery during search or custody is impermissible.

Used for: Every arrest, every summons, and every payment made during a search.

Detention and penalty were unsustainable where the delay was caused by circumstances beyond the transporter's control and there was no intent to evade tax; costs were imposed on the department.

Used for: Every expired e-way bill detention.

High Courts should not direct release of seized goods on terms other than those prescribed in Section 67(6) and Rule 140; the statutory route of bond and security governs.

Used for: Provisional release of seized goods; the terms are statutory.

A person summoned under Section 70 is not an accused, and the power to grant anticipatory bail is not ordinarily exercisable at the summons stage; a writ against a summons is generally not maintainable.

Used for: Know it before seeking protection at the summons stage; Radhika Agarwal now supplies the safeguards.

Declined to interfere with High Court orders granting protection from arrest in GST matters but directed that High Courts keep in mind the Telangana view that arrest under Section 69 does not require completion of assessment.

Used for: The early position on pre assessment arrest, since developed in Radhika Agarwal.

In a fake invoicing prosecution the Court declined bail on the facts, noting the gravity of the offence and the quantum involved.

Used for: The revenue's authority on bail in large fake invoice matters; distinguish on quantum and cooperation.

IGST on ocean freight under reverse charge in the hands of a CIF importer is impermissible double taxation of a composite supply; GST Council recommendations are recommendatory and not binding on the Union and the States.

Used for: Ocean freight refunds, the composite supply argument, and the answer to 'the Council recommended it'.

Section 54(3)(ii) and Rule 89(5) are valid; refund of accumulated credit in an inverted duty structure is confined to credit on input goods; the formula's anomalies are for the Council to address.

Used for: Inverted duty refunds; the exclusion of services credit is closed.

Lottery is an actionable claim and goods for the purposes of GST; the levy on lottery, and the inclusion of the prize money in the value, are within legislative competence.

Used for: The competence to tax actionable claims, and the foundation of the later gaming amendments.

Stayed the Delhi High Court's direction permitting TRAN-1 filing beyond the time limit; the question was subsequently subsumed in Filco Trade Centre.

Used for: Context for the transitional credit line.

Dismissed the revenue's petition against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order permitting transitional credit, leaving the High Court's reasoning intact.

Used for: Support for the vested right formulation on transitional credit.

The revenue's challenge to the Gujarat High Court's reading down of the one third land deduction is pending; the High Court view continues to be followed.

Used for: Verify status before relying on actual land value.

Whether appeals against first appellate orders passed before the Tribunal became functional are maintainable if filed within the notified transitional window. The notification computes the period from the notified date, not from the date of the order.

Used for: Older orders whose appeal period had otherwise expired.

How the pre-deposit is computed where the order consists only of penalty. The amended provision prescribes a rate on the penalty amount, and an appeal accompanied by that deposit should not be treated as defective.

Used for: Detention and Section 122 penalty appeals.

Whether the tax component of the pre-deposit may be discharged from the electronic credit ledger. Circular 172/04/2022-GST supports payment of output tax from credit; interest and penalty remain payable in cash.

Used for: Confirms the circular position at the Tribunal stage.

The handling of anti profiteering proceedings transferred to the Principal Bench from the Competition Commission, and whether parties may supplement the record on methodology.

Used for: Real estate and FMCG anti profiteering matters.

Whether a ground not taken before the first appellate authority may be raised before the Tribunal. A pure question of law is ordinarily entertained; a factual ground requiring fresh evidence needs an application under the Procedure Rules.

Used for: Framing the memorandum of appeal.

How the Tribunal deals with the Section 168A limitation objection while the validity of the extension notifications is pending before the Supreme Court. The ground must be recorded and preserved; the Tribunal is unlikely to decide it ahead of the Supreme Court.

Used for: Preserve the 168A ground; the Tribunal will not decide it ahead of the Supreme Court.

Whether a demand confirmed on a ground not specified in the show cause notice can be sustained. Section 75(7) prohibits it, and a remand for a fresh notice is not available where limitation has expired.

Used for: The Section 75(7) ground at the Tribunal stage.