Section 83 of the CGST Act, 2017 – Provisional Attachment –-The petitioner challenged provisional attachment made under Section 83 of the Act, of the bank account. It is alleged that the Service Tax as well as GST had been collected from the recipient companies, but had not been remitted to the Department. The petitioner against the admitted dues of GST, has furnished a tabulation giving a scheme of installment stretching upto December 2021. The Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is in arrears of revenue but nothing to be gained by virtue of the impugned provisional attachment since the attachment only stands in the way of the petitioner carrying on business and making efforts to settle the arrears due. The court observed that the petitioner must be permitted to approch the revenue by way of a representation seeking lifting of the bank attachment, conditional upon her furnishing an undertaking therein to made earnest efforts to repay the admitted dues with a scheme of installment and then revenue will consider the representation, The court further observed that there is nothing to be gained by thwarting the attempt of an assessee to engage in legitimate business. In fact, this would be in the best interests of both the petitioner as well as the revenue, subject of course to there being scrupulous monitoring of the inflow and outflow in the account itself.

Held that:- The Hon’ble High Court directed the Bank to circulate a statement of inflow and outflow/debit and credit to the respondents on a monthly basis, should the revenue be inclined to lift the attachment. The court placed its reliance on the Supreme Court decision in Internet and Mobile Association of India v. Reserve Bank of India (2020 (10) Supreme Court Cases 274). If a representation is filed by this petitioner, let it be disposed within a period of three weeks, after hearing the petitioner.