Time Limit for Availing Transitional Input Tax Credit Under GST Mandatory: Madras HC

The Madras High Court has ruled that the time limit for availing Transitional Input Tax Credit (ITC) is mandatory in nature, not directory. The Court also observed that the ITC is a form of concession not a property, in which right can be vested. The time limit prescribed to avail such a concession under Rule 117 must be followed in a mandatory nature. The petitioner P.R.Mani Electronics, a retail merchant of electronic appliances, challenged the constitutional validity of Rule 117 of the Central Goods and Service tax Rules, 2017 (CGST Rules) as ultra vires to Section 140 of Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act) and Articles 14 and 300 A of the Constitution.