M/s. Eicher Motors Ltd – Writ Petition – Madras High Court

The key details are:

1. It involves two writ petitions – W.P.Nos.16866 & 22013 of 2023 – filed by M/s. Eicher Motors Limited challenging a recovery notice and order passed by the GST authorities demanding interest payment of Rs. 23.76 crores for alleged delayed GST payment.

2. Eicher Motors is a manufacturer of Royal Enfield motorcycles. It had accumulated CENVAT credit of Rs. 33.87 crores to be transitioned to GST regime. But due to technical glitches in filing TRAN-1 form, this credit was not reflected in the electronic credit ledger. Hence, Eicher was unable to file GSTR-3B returns for July 2017 onwards.

3. However, Eicher had paid the GST liability for July 2017 to Dec 2017 (Rs. 527 crores) by cash using PMT-06 challans within due date, even though returns were filed late. The issue was whether interest is payable for this late filing under Section 50(1) of CGST Act.

4. Eicher contented tax was already paid to Government before due date, so no interest applies. Department contended payment date is when liability debited in GSTR-3B electronic cash ledger.

5. High Court held tax is considered paid when deposited to Government account using PMT-06, not when debit entry made in filing GSTR-3B. So no interest applies since tax already paid before due date, though returns were late.

6. Court quashed the interest demand of Rs. 23.76 crores against Eicher.

In summary, this judgment provides clarity on when tax payment date is considered for GST purpose in context of interest calculation. The key takeaway is that payment date is when tax deposited to Government account, not when reflected in electronic cash ledger.