Facts of the Case

This writ petition, WPC No. 4911 of 2023, was filed by West India Construction Company, Bhilai, through its partner Ashok Kumar Jain, against Chhattisgarh's Public Health Engineering Division and connected Jal Jeevan Mission authorities. The petitioner, a works contractor, sought a direction to decide its representation dated 13.05.2023 for refund of excess GST paid due to the mid-contract rate change on works contracts from 12% to 18%, effective 18.07.2022, pointing out that other departments — PWD, Water Resources and Irrigation — had already resolved to refund such excess GST.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the Public Health Engineering Division was obliged to decide the petitioner's pending representation for refund of excess GST arising from the 12%-to-18% rate change.
  2. Whether the petitioner was entitled to parity with contractors of other State departments that had already resolved such refunds.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • Other departments had already decided to refund excess GST from the rate change; there was no reason for the Public Health Engineering Division to differ.
  • The petitioner's representation dated 13.05.2023 to respondent No. 4 remained undecided despite the lapse of time.

Respondent's Arguments

  • Learned counsel for the State submitted that while the representation had to be considered by respondent Nos. 4 and 5, the State had no objection to the limited relief sought.

Court Order/Findings

  • The Court allowed the pending amendment application to correct the cause-title, and then disposed of the petition at the motion stage itself, given the limited relief sought and the State's lack of objection.
  • Respondent Nos. 4 and 5 were directed to decide the petitioner's representation dated 13.05.2023 at the earliest, preferably within 90 days, having regard to similar refund decisions already taken for other departments such as PWD, Irrigation and Water Resources.
  • No finding was recorded on the merits of the refund entitlement; the Court confined itself to a time-bound direction.

Important Clarification

  • Where a State has already adopted a consistent refund policy for one department's contractors following a mid-contract GST rate change, a High Court will direct a differently-placed department to decide a similar representation on a fixed timeline, without deciding entitlement itself.

Sections Involved

  • Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Chhattisgarh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — govern the rate on works contracts, revised from 12% to 18% effective 18.07.2022.

Decision – In Favour of

Disposed of with directions, in part in favour of the Assessee/Petitioner — the refund claim was not adjudicated on merits, but the authorities were directed to decide the representation within 90 days, with regard to parity already given to other departments' contractors.

Related Case Laws

No directly on-point case notes are currently published on this site.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Chhattisgarh, Bilaspur
  • Case No.: WPC No. 4911 of 2023
  • CNR: Not available on record
  • Coram: Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi
  • Decision Date: 01 December 2023
  • Disposal Nature: Disposed of at motion stage with direction to decide representation within 90 days

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