Introduction

The petitioners were traders engaged in the supply of pulses such as moong dal, toor dal and other food grains, which were marketed in unit containers under unregistered brand names.

Under the original GST rate notifications issued on 28 June 2017, GST at 5% was leviable only on specified goods supplied in unit containers bearing a registered brand name. Goods sold without a registered brand name continued to enjoy exemption. Following implementation of GST, several businesses voluntarily surrendered or deregistered their trademarks while continuing to market their products under the same commercial names, thereby claiming exemption from GST.