VIJAYAWADA : The Andhra Pradesh High Court imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on one Jayamma of Vijayawada-based Reddy Enterprises for misusing the court procedure to evade GST.
In a recent verdict, a division bench comprising Justice Ravi Nath Tilhari and Justice Mandava Kiranmayee directed Jayamma to pay the penalty in 15 days, and in case she does not follow the order, the High Court Registrar General was directed to initiate the process to recover the amount from her.
Under the GST Act, the tax authorities issued assessment order to Jayamma for payment of Rs 56.95 crore. She filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the orders. The division bench of Justice Tilhari cancelled the assessment order and directed the petitioner to deposit 50% of the assessed amount. It directed the tax authorities to give the petitioner time to present her arguments.
However, she challenged the HC order in the Supreme Court, which refused to intervene, and told the petitioner to get clarity on the 50% deposit order. She again approached the High Court, which refused to amend its order. After that, she went to the Supreme Court, which dismissed her appeal.
Following this, she filed an appeal in the GST Appellate Tribunal, which refused to entertain it stating that the period to appeal had lapsed. Jayamma approached the High Court again, and claimed that as she petitioned the High Court, there was a delay in filing the appeal in the Tribunal. Taking serious view of Jayamma’s approach, the court observed that she was misusing the court procedure to evade GST, and imposed a penalty on her.