What did the High Court hold?

The court held that the GST registration could not be completed due to a defect in the PAN card. The petitioner was advised to rectify their PAN card through the designated channels.

The petitioner, a trust, applied for GST registration but it was rejected due to an error in their PAN card. The petitioner sought a writ of mandamus to direct the respondents to complete the GST registration.

What were the issues?

Whether a writ of mandamus can be issued to complete GST registration when the underlying PAN card has defects. The procedure for rectifying PAN card errors.

Catholic Diocese of Tiruvalla… vs Union of India | Karnataka High Court 2022

- 1 - IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU

DATED THIS THE 1ST DAY OF JULY 2022

BEFORE

THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE M.I.ARUN

WRIT PETITION No.15191 OF 2021 (T-RES)

BETWEEN:

CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF TIRUVALLA (TRUST) REP. BY ITS TRUSTEE REV. FR. BIJU VARGHESE FINANCE OFFICER OF THE TRUST ARCHBISHOP’S HOUSE, MARYGIRI TIRUVALLA P O., PATHANAMTHITTA KERALA - 689 101

... PETITIONER

(BY SRI.PRITHVI RAJ B. N., ADV.)

AND:

1 . UNION OF INDIA REP. BY THE SECRETARY DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE MINISTRY OF FINANCE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

NORTH BLOCK NEW DELHI - 110 001

2 . CENTRAL BUREAU OF DIRECT TAXES REP. BY CHAIRMAN, CENTRAL

SECRETARIAT NORTH BLOCK NEW DELHI - 110 001

3 . ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (EXEMPTION) AAYAKAR BHAVAN

- 2 - PEROORKADA ROAD KOWDIAR, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

PIN- 695 003

4 . COMMERCIAL TAX OFFICER SGSTO – 263, BELTHANGADY SURENDRA MANSION BELTHANGADY - 574 214

5 . THE SECRETARY GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS FOREIGNERS DIVISION (FCRA WING) NDCC-II, BUILDING, JAI SINGH ROAD NEW DELHI - 110 001

... RESPONDENTS

(BY SMT.SWATI PANDURANGA, CGSC FOR R1 & R5; SRI. E. I. SANMATHI, ADV. FOR R2 & R3; SRI. K. HEMA KUMAR, AGA FOR R4)

THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO DIRECT THE RESPONDENTS TO COMPLETE THE PAN BASED GST REGISTRATION OF THE PETITIONER TRUST BY SHOWING THE CONSTITUTION OF BUSINESS AS TRUST.

THIS WRIT PETITION COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING IN ‘B’ GROUP, THIS DAY, THE COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING:

O R D E R

The case of the petitioner is that it had obtained Permanent Account Number (hereinafter referred to as ‘PAN’ for short) and when it tried to register under the provisions of the GST Act, 2017 by linking the PAN, the

- 3 - same was rejected on the ground that there is an error in the PAN issued to the petitioner. Hence, the instant writ petition is filed seeking a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to complete the PAN based GST registration of petitioner – Trust by showing the continuation of business as Trust.

The learned counsel for respondent Nos.2 and 3 upon instructions submits that if there is any mistake in the PAN issued to the petitioner either due to fault of the petitioner or the respondent authority, the same can be rectified by approaching PAN Facilitation Centre or through Income Tax Number Portal and the petitioner is not entitled to the relief prayed for.

The contention of the learned counsel for the respondent Nos.2 and 3 is supported by other respondents.

Admittedly, the GST registration of the petitioner – Trust has not been successful because of the defect in the PAN Card issued to the petitioner. The method of rectifying the same is by approaching PAN Facilitation Centre or by

- 4 - filing an online application in Income Tax Department Portal and a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to complete the PAN based GST registration as prayed by the petitioner cannot be considered.

For the aforementioned reasons, the writ petition is hereby dismissed reserving the liberty to the petitioner to seek rectification of its PAN card as aforementioned.

Sd/-

JUDGE

MH/-

CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF TIRUVALLA (TRUST) vs. UNION OF INDIA

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