O. IBRAHIM KUTTY v. THE STATE TAX OFFICER & ORS.

Introduction

This judgment of the Kerala High Court reinforces the beneficial relief introduced through Section 16(5) of the CGST Act, holding that where a registered person has furnished the relevant GST return before the statutory cut-off date prescribed under the provision, the restriction contained in Section 16(4) cannot be invoked to deny Input Tax Credit (ITC).

The Court observed that the petitioner had filed the return for March 2020 on 18.01.2021, which was well before the statutory cut-off date of 30.11.2021 under Section 16(5). Consequently, the denial of ITC and the consequential penalty merely on the ground of delayed filing under Section 16(4) were held to be unsustainable. The impugned order was quashed and the matter was remanded for fresh consideration under Section 16(5).