Manu International Thru’ Its PartnerSmt. Lakshmi Gupta vs State Of U.P

The petitioner, a registered partnership firm under the Uttar Pradesh Value Added Tax (U.P. VAT) Act, 2008, encountered a significant issue during the transition to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. As part of this transition, the petitioner applied for migration to GST and the issuance of a new registration certificate. The department provided the necessary ID and password for this process, but a clerical error rendered these credentials invalid by containing the PAN of one of the firm’s partners instead of the firm’s PAN. Recognizing the potential disruption this error could cause in complying with GST requirements, the petitioner sought court intervention to rectify the mistake. The petitioner argued that the error was purely clerical and could be easily corrected upon verification of records. In response, Sri C.B. Tripathi, the learned Special Counsel, along with other standing counsel representing the Union of India, requested a week to obtain instructions and correct the error. They assured the court that a fresh ID and password with the correct PAN would be issued, facilitating the petitioner’s GST migration and enabling the filing of returns for July and August 2017. The court, understanding the urgency, scheduled the next hearing for September 19, 2017, and provided interim relief by instructing the respondents not to initiate any penal action against the petitioner for non-filing of GST returns or non-payment of related taxes for July and August 2017. This relief was conditional on the petitioner filing the returns within two weeks of receiving the corrected credentials and paying the taxes within another two weeks. This case highlights the critical importance of precise clerical and administrative processes during significant systemic changes like the GST implementation. The judiciary’s intervention balanced the need for prompt correction of errors with the protection of businesses from undue penal consequences, underscoring the necessity for meticulous accuracy in administrative procedures to prevent legal challenges and operational disruptions for businesses.