Summary:
Kochi, Dec 1 (PTI) The pandemic period cannot be cited as a reason for not deciding whether to include petroleum products under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime as several decisions were taken during this period, the Kerala High Court has said.
The observation by the high court came after the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs said that the question of whether to include petroleum products under GST could not be decided as the matter involves high revenue implications, requires larger deliberations and during pandemic times, it would be difficult to bring petroleum products under the GST regime.
"We are not satisfied with the reasons.
There should be some discussion and genuine reasons as to why petroleum products cannot be brought under the GST regime.
"Further, the pandemic period cannot be cited as a reason.
It is well known that even during the pandemic period, several decisions were taken involving revenue, after deliberations," a bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly said.