Allahabad HC rejects Patanjali Ayurved's plea against Rs 273.5 crore GST penalty
The
Allahabad High Court
has dismissed
Patanjali Ayurved Limited
's petition challenging Rs 273.50-crore goods and service tax (GST) penalty.
A division bench comprising Justices Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Vipin Chandra Dixit rejected Patanjali's argument that such penalties constitute criminal liability and can be imposed only after a criminal trial.
The bench was of the view that tax authorities can impose penalties under
Section 122 of the GST Act
through civil proceedings without requiring criminal court trials.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
The Top 25 Most Beautiful Women In The World
Car Novels
Undo
The court clarified that
GST penalty
proceedings are civil in nature and can be adjudicated by proper officers.
"After detailed analysis, it is clear that the proceeding under Section 122 of the CGST Act is to be adjudicated by the adjudicating officer and is not required to undergo prosecution," the bench said.
Live Events
Patanjali Ayurved
operates three manufacturing units at Haridwar (Uttarakhand), Sonipat (Haryana) and Ahmednagar (Maharashtra). The company came under investigation following information received by authorities about suspicious transactions involving firms with high
Input Tax Credit
(ITC) utilisation but no income tax credentials.
The investigation led to allegations that
Patanjali
"acting as a main person indulged in
circular trading
of tax invoices only on paper without actual supply of goods".
The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (
DGGI
), Ghaziabad issued a show cause notice on April 19, 2024 to Patanjali Ayurved, proposing a penalty of Rs 273.51 crore under Section 122(1), clauses (ii) and (vii) of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act 2017.
Later, the DGGI dropped tax demands under Section 74 through an adjudication order dated January 10, 2025.
The department found that "for all the commodities, the quantities sold were always more than the quantities purchased from the suppliers, thereby making the observation that all the ITC which was availed in the impugned goods was further passed on by the petitioner".
Despite dropping the tax demand, authorities decided to continue with penalty proceedings under Section 122, prompting Patanjali to challenge this before the high court.
After hearing both sides, the court in its judgment dated May 29 dismissed the petition.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
7 minutes ago
- Time of India
Even ‘White Lotus' buzz isn't reviving Thailand's tourism slump
Thailand's tourism outlook in such doldrums that even the so-called The White Lotus effect — a temporary boost in Western visitors inspired by the latest Koh Samui—set season of HBO's hit show — hasn't been enough to offset a slump in arrivals from neighboring countries. Foreign arrivals to Thailand dropped for the fourth straight month in May, slipping 14% to 2.6 million, government data show. That's the country's longest streak of declines since 2021, when the Covid pandemic closed international borders. ALSO READ: Thailand closes scenic viewing spot following clashes at Laos by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: 1 simple trick to get all TV channels Techno Mag Learn More Undo The biggest drop came from travelers from other Asian countries, whose citizens make up the vast majority of tourists to Thailand. Regional arrivals fell nearly 11% this year through May, compared to the same period in 2024. Visits by Chinese tourists, who make up the largest group by nationality, have plummeted — nearly 1 million fewer arrivals so far this year versus 2024. (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) The plunge heading into the summer holiday period and beyond is causing consternation in Thailand, where tourism makes up about 12% of gross domestic product. It's being fueled by lingering concerns about safety, with fears about the growing presence of scam centers around the Myanmar border spooking visitors from China. Live Events ALSO READ: Thailand reinstates financial proof requirement for tourist visas Thailand has also in recent months contended with an earthquake that beamed images of a destroyed Bangkok skyscraper around the world, the rising popularity of Japan and China as regional tourism destinations and a strong baht that's made it less of a value destination. 'We have lost a lot tourists to other competing countries in Asia because we didn't tackle the negative images seriously,' said Ratchaporn Poolsawadee, vice president of the Tourism Council of Thailand. 'Thailand's tourism is resilient, but this may take months to rebound.' ALSO READ: Travelling to Thailand soon? The government has issued a health alert you must be aware of Arrivals from China have fallen 33% so far this year after a scam gang's January kidnapping of Chinese actor Wang Xing near the Thai border. Wang's ordeal went viral in the mainland, prompting thousands of cancellations as mainland tourists opted for regional competitors including Japan and Singapore that they perceive as safer. Visits from Malaysia, Thailand's second biggest source of arrivals, dropped as much as 17% during the same period. Travel warnings from Hong Kong, the UK and Australia have cited concerns related to earthquakes and safety. Flight bookings for the height of summer, June to August, show a 15% decline in Chinese arrivals compared to a year ago, according to data from China Trading Desk, which tracks the mainland tourism market. Hotel occupancy is forecast to fall to 52% in May from 63% the month before, driven largely by the drop from China, according to a survey of nearly 140 hotel operators within the Thai Hotel Association. Daily room rates are expected to decline in the second quarter as hotels slash prices to compete for guests. The self-branded 'Land of Smiles' has publicized efforts to shut down some scam compounds and arrests following Wang's kidnapping. The efforts come as concerns mount in the tourism industry that Thailand will miss its goal of attracting more than 39 million visitors this year, accounting for about $68 billion in tourist spending. To avoid that, industry officials are calling for further action to reassure would-be visitors, including more promotion to non-Chinese markets. In a bright spot, The White Lotus, whose third season featured the islands of Samui and Phuket, is attracting vacationers from the US and Europe. The third season of the show — which follows the lives of guests and staff at an ultra luxury resort — was filmed at a Four Seasons in Koh Samui and at Anantara resorts. Tourists from the US have spiked 12% this year through May to more than 625,000, and adventurers from Europe have jumped nearly 18% to more than 3 million in the same period from a year ago, government data show. Still, the country could need more than a TV show to stop Asian tourists — who would see The White Lotus's setting as far less exotic — from heading elsewhere. 'Thailand was hit with a string of bad news events,' said Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the Thai Hotels Association, whose members include the biggest hoteliers in the country. 'So now we have travelers concerned about safety and security. The government should act right now and do a lot more to reassure and attract visitors.'
Time of India
8 minutes ago
- Time of India
Hyundai Verna SX+ variant launched: Price, transmission options, what's new
Hyundai Verna SX+ variant launched. Hyundai has expanded its Verna sedan's range with the launch of a new SX+ variant. The new variant has been priced from Rs 13.79 lakh, ex-showroom, and will only be available with the 1.5-litre NA petrol motor that makes 115 hp and 144 Nm of torque. Transmission options include both MT and iVT, with the latter setting you back by Rs 15.04 lakh, ex-showroom. Hyundai Verna SX+: What's new The Verna SX+ comes equipped with ventilated and heated front seats, leatherette upholstery, an 8-speaker Bose sound system, and front parking sensors. On the outside, it also gets LED headlamps and more. Inside, the SX+ trim gets features like a 8.0-inch infotainment system, a digital driver's display. Now, this system will be able to support wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto with the help of an adapter the company has launched alongside the new trim. Speaking of the mileage, the manual variant offers a fuel efficiency of 18.6 kmpl, while the iVT returns 19.6 kmpl. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Perdagangkan CFD Emas dengan Broker Tepercaya IC Markets Mendaftar Undo 2025 Tata Altroz review: Tata's Best Hatchback Yet? Hyundai wired-to-wireless adapter Alongside the new Verna variant, Hyundai has also launched a new accessory: a wired-to-wireless adapter. This adapter is priced at Rs 4,500, and enables wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality for several models, including the Verna, Grand i10 Nios, Exter, Aura, Venue, Venue N Line, and Alcazar. In other developments, the carmaker reported total sales of 58,701 units in May 2025, comprising 43,861 units sold in the domestic market and 14,840 units shipped to overseas markets. Stay tuned to TOI Auto for latest updates on the automotive sector and do follow us on our social media handles on Facebook, Instagram and X. Discover everything about the automotive world at Times of India .
Time of India
9 minutes ago
- Time of India
Trump wants America to make things again. Does it have what it takes?
HO CHI MINH CITY: President Donald Trump ignited a global trade war on a gamble that taxing other countries would bring jobs and factories "roaring back" to the United States. Many business leaders are skeptical. Some are incredulous. Sanjeev Bahl is optimistic. From his factory in Los Angeles, Bahl oversees around 250 people who sew, cut and distress jeans for brands like Everlane, J. Crew and Ralph Lauren. They stitch together 70,000 pairs of jeans a month. America, he insisted, can make stuff again. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Esta nueva alarma con cámara es casi regalada en Rosario (ver precio) Verisure Undo But there is a catch. The operation works only because his company, Saitex , runs a much bigger factory and fabric mill in southern Vietnam where thousands of workers churn out 500,000 pairs of jeans a month. Trump's tariffs have upended supply chains, walloped businesses and focused the minds of corporate leaders on one question: Does America have what it takes to bring jobs back? Live Events In many industries, the undertaking would take years, if not decades. The United States lacks nearly every part of the manufacturing ecosystem -- the workers, the training, the technology and the government support. "There are some harsh realities," said Matt Priest, CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, a trade group. And Trump's strategy is shrouded in uncertainty. Last month, he said, "We're not looking to make sneakers and T-shirts" in the United States. But his steepest tariffs, set to take effect in July, were directed at countries that make clothes and shoes for sale to Americans. Vietnam, at 46%, was one of the hardest hit. Those tariffs, intended to push companies to bring factory work home, were deemed illegal by a ruling last week by the U.S. Court of International Trade. That decision was temporarily paused by a different court, giving judges time to evaluate an appeal by the Trump administration. Amid all the legal wrangling, Trump has promised to find other ways to disrupt the rules of trade. Trump has exposed the difficulties in closing the vast distances, geographical and logistical, between where many products are made and where they are consumed. The gulf was laid bare during the COVID-19 pandemic, when strict health policies in Asian countries led to the shutdown of factories. When they reopened, orders had piled up and snarled shipping routes trying to ferry goods across thousands of miles. NYT News Service Sanjeev Bahl, the chief executive of Saitex, at the company's Los Angeles factory on May 6, 2025. For executives like Bahl of Saitex, the turmoil caused by Trump's trade policies has brought fresh urgency to the challenges of managing global supply chains. "The extended fear and uncertainty that COVID brought was unforeseen," Bahl said. "There was nothing that could help us except survival instinct." In response, Saitex opened a factory in Los Angeles in 2021. Since Trump announced his intention to impose steep tariffs on Vietnam, Bahl has been thinking about how much more he can make in the United States. He could probably bring about 20% of production to the States, up from 10% today, he said. He believes Saitex could be a blueprint for other apparel companies: "We could be the catalyst of the hypothesis that manufacturing can be brought back to the United States," he said. But his experience highlights how hard it would be. There are no mills in America on the scale of what the industry needs, nor major zipper and button suppliers. The cost of running a factory is high. Then there is the labor problem: There just aren't enough workers. American factories are already struggling to fill around 500,000 manufacturing jobs, according to estimates by Wells Fargo economists. They calculate that to get manufacturing as a share of employment back to the 1970s peak that Trump has sometimes called for, new factories would have to open and hire 22 million people. There are currently 7.2 million unemployed people. Trump's crackdown on immigration has made things worse. Factory jobs moved overseas to countries, like Vietnam, that had growing populations and young people looking for jobs to pull themselves out of poverty. The future that Trump envisions, with millions of factory jobs, would have to include immigrants seeking that same opportunity in the United States. Steve Lamar, CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, an industry lobby group, said there was a gap between a "romantic notion about manufacturing" and the availability of American workers. "A lot of people say we should be making more clothing in the U.S., but when you ask them, they don't want to sit in the factory, nor do they want their kids to sit in the factory," he said. "The problem is that there aren't any other people around," he added. At Saitex's Los Angeles factory, most of the workers come from countries like Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador. Some 97% of the clothes and shoes that Americans buy are imported for cost reasons. Companies that make everything in the United States include firms like Federal Prison Industries, also known as Unicor, which employs convicts to make military uniforms for less than minimum wage, Lamar said. Other companies make some of their fashion lines in the United States, like New Balance and Ralph Lauren. Others are playing around with a model where they make small batches of clothes in the United States to test designs and determine their popularity before commissioning big orders -- usually from factories in other countries. It is hard to make things in great volume in America. For Bahl, it boils down to the cost of a sewing machine operator. In Los Angeles, that person gets paid around $4,000 a month. In Vietnam, it is $500. In Saitex's factory there, which Bahl set up in 2012 in Dong Nai province, an hour's drive from Ho Chi Minh City, more than a dozen sewing lines are neatly laid out and humming six days a week. On a recent day, hundreds of workers pushed panels of jeans through sewing machines so quickly that the fabrics, briefly suspended in the air, looked as though they were flying. The work was augmented by sophisticated machines that can stitch labels onto a dozen shirts at a time, or laser a distressed pattern onto multiple jeans. Nearby, at a spray carousel, a robot mimicked the precise movements of a worker spraying denim. "The speed is much higher in Vietnam," said Gilles Cousin, a plant manager overseeing the sewing section. NYT News Service Jeans at the Saitex factory, which makes jeans for brands like Everlane, J. Crew and Ralph Lauren, in Dong Nai, Vietnam, on April 26, 2025. If Trump really wants to bring jobs back, Bahl said, he should give some tariff exemptions to companies like Saitex that are doing more in the United States. American factories like his can't expand without importing many of the things that go into their finished products. For its part, Saitex ships bales of American cotton to Vietnam, where its two-story mill turns fluffy cotton lint into thread and, eventually, rolls of dyed fabric. That fabric is then shipped back the United States for his Los Angeles factory. Until there is enough momentum from companies making things in the United States, the fabric, zippers and buttons will have to be brought into the country. Moving production from overseas would require huge investments, too. Saitex has plowed around $150 million in Vietnam, where its factory recycles 98% of its water, air dries its denim and uses technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and cut down on labor-intensive practices. In the United States, Saitex has spent around $25 million. These are long-term commitments that take at least seven years to recover, according to Bahl. Ultimately, if Trump decided to stick to his original 46% tariff on Vietnam and Saitex could not soften the financial blow, it would have to look to other markets to sell the products it made in Vietnam -- like Europe, where it sends about half of what it makes. "But then," Bahl said from Los Angeles, "what happens to our factory here?"
