Page 73 - GSTL_27th August 2020_Vol 39_Part 4

2020 ] SOTHEBY’S ART SERVICES (I) PVT. LTD. v. UNION OF INDIA 399
3. Heard finally by consent of the parties.
4. This petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of
India, for the following reliefs :
(a) Issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ(s), order(s),
direction(s) in the nature of writ of certiorari holding that the time
limit provided under the retrospective amendment to Section 140(1)
of the CGST Act and MGST Act read with Rule 117 of the CGST
Rules and MGST Rules, is only directory in nature and cannot be
said to be a mandatory condition for the transition of credits from
the erstwhile regime to the new regime;
(b) Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ(s), order(s),
direction(s) in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to
reopen the GST common portal for filing Form GST TRAN-1 in or-
der to avail the eligible credit in the electronic credit ledger of peti-
tioner. Alternatively, issue writ of mandamus or any other appropri-
ate writ(s), order(s), direction(s) in the nature of mandamus directing
the respondents to accept the manual/hard copy of the Form GST
TRAN-1 in order to avail the eligible credit in the electronic credit
ledger of petitioner;
(c) Issue writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ(s), order(s),
direction(s) in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to
credit the transitional credit to petitioner’s electronic credit ledger;
(d) Ad interim reliefs in terms of prayer (b) and (c) above till the time the
present petition is disposed of;
(e) Issue any other appropriate writ, order or directions as the facts and
circumstances of the present case may require.
5. Briefly the facts are as under :
(a) The petitioner is a company incorporated under the Compa-
nies Act, 2013 and engaged in conducting auctions in India
for its global customers, thereby providing auctioning ser-
vices.
(b) The petitioner was duly registered under the erstwhile
Finance Act, 1994 for providing taxable services under busi-
ness auxiliary services in terms of the provisions of the said
Act.
(c) The provisions of the Finance Act were superseded with the
Goods and Services Tax Act (GST) regime w.e.f. 1-7-2017 by
enactment of the CGST and MGST Act alongwith rules made
thereunder.
(d) Therefore, the petitioner migrated to the GST regime and ob-
tained a GST registration certificate. The petitioner had ac-
cumulated Cenvat credit upto 30-6-2017 for the period April,
2017 to June, 2017 being Rs. 47,96,627.00.
(e) According to the petitioner in terms of Section 140(1) read
with Rule 117(1) of the CGST Act and the MGST Act, a per-
son registered under the GST laws is allowed to carry for-
GST LAW TIMES  27th August 2020  73