GST Provisional Attachment Order Not Valid After Expiry Of 1 Year: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain has ruled in the case of M/s Pashupati Properties Estate Private Limited Versus Commissioner of Central Taxes, that any interim attachment order issued under Section 83(1) of the CGST Act loses its force after a year from the day it was issued.

The petitioner/assessee disputed the respondent’s/letter department’s directing the petitioner’s lender to provisionally attach immovable property in the petitioner’s name under Section 83 of the CGST Act, 2017.

The petitioner had asked for directives to release/de-freeze the petitioner’s provisionally attached immovable property.

The respondent’s counsel claimed that no further attachment orders were issued after December 1, 2020. He went on to say that the petitioner has yet to receive a show cause notice under Section 74 of the CGST Act.

The court noted that no further attachment orders on Form GST DRC-22 were issued following the issuance of the letter dated December 7, 2020.

The court stated that the provisional attachment letter is no longer valid and ordered the department to defrost the petitioner’s bank accounts and release the petitioner’s immovable property within three days.

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