Case Note & Summary
The writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India was filed before the High Court of Karnataka at Dharwad challenging appellate orders passed by the Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Appeals) dated 28.08.2025, which rejected the petitioner's refund claims for financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19. The petitioner, a registered taxpayer providing manpower supply services to government departments and public authorities, was registered under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Karnataka Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The petition arose from an inspection of the petitioner's premises on 20.01.2024 by the Commercial Tax Officer (Enforcement) based on an intelligence report alleging discrepancies between GSTR-3B and GSTR-7 records. The petitioner alleged that during the investigation, the authorities coerced payments of Rs.20,97,352 and Rs.15,00,000 on 27.03.2024 and Rs.18,00,000 on 14.05.2025, totaling Rs.53,97,352, under Section 73(5) of the CGST Act. These payments were claimed to have been made under duress and without any pre-existing tax demand. Show-cause notices were subsequently issued under Section 74 of the CGST/KGST Acts, and the petitioner filed replies stating that the payments were involuntary and made under protest. The petitioner filed refund applications on 12.09.2024 seeking refund of Rs.38,97,352 and Rs.15,00,000, which were rejected by orders dated 12.11.2024 after personal hearing. The petitioner's appeal against the rejection was dismissed by the Joint Commissioner on 28.08.2025. A separate adjudication order under Section 74(9) dated 06.02.2025 was challenged in W.P.No.103059/2025, where a Co-ordinate Bench granted an interim order on 03.06.2025 directing the respondents not to precipitate the matter. In the present petition, the petitioner sought quashing of the appellate orders and a declaration of entitlement to refund of Rs.53,97,352 with interest, along with a mandamus directing the Commercial Tax Officer to grant the refund. The primary contention of the petitioner was that the payments were made under coercion and therefore refundable. The learned Additional Advocate General appearing for the State contested the allegations of coercion, but the available judgment text is truncated and does not include the final submissions, reasoning, or operative order of the court. Consequently, the final decision on the writ petition cannot be extracted from the provided text.
Headnote
A) Tax Law - GST Refund - Coercive Payment and Duress - Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, Section 73(5); Karnataka Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, Section 74 - Petitioner alleged that payments of Rs.35,97,352 on 27.03.2024 and Rs.18,00,000 on 14.05.2025 were made under coercion during investigation without pre-existing demand; refund applications were rejected and appeal dismissed under Section 107(11) of KGST Act; court's consideration of the matter remained pending in the available text (Paras 3-7, 10-11). B) Tax Law - Show Cause Notice and Adjudication - Section 74 CGST/KGST Acts - Show-cause notices dated 18.07.2024 and 07.08.2024 were issued under Section 74 demanding Rs.3,21,870 with interest and penalty; petitioner replied alleging coercion and protest; adjudication order dated 06.02.2025 under Section 74(9) was challenged in separate writ petition with interim stay (Paras 6, 8). C) Constitutional Law - Writ Jurisdiction - Articles 226 and 227 Constitution of India - Petitioner sought quashing of appellate orders and mandamus for refund; interim order in related petition directed no precipitative action; current petition sought similar relief (Paras 1, 8-9).
Issue of Consideration
Whether payments made by petitioner on 27.03.2024 and 14.05.2025 were made under duress/coercion and hence refundable; whether appellate orders rejecting refund claims under Section 107(11) of KGST Act are liable to be quashed; whether petitioner is entitled to refund of Rs.53,97,352 with interest under Section 73(5) of CGST Act
Final Decision
Not mentioned (judgment text truncated before final order)
Law Points
- GST refund
- coercive recovery
- duress
- Section 73(5) CGST Act
- Section 74 CGST/KGST Act
- Section 107(11) KGST Act
- Articles 226 and 227 Constitution of India
- writ jurisdiction
- appeal against refund rejection
