The Supreme Court has upheld the government’s appeal against the Delhi High Court’s 2020 order, which had permitted Bharti Airtel to claim a Rs 9.23 billion refund by rectifying its Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns for July to September 2017.
This matter pertained to 2017 when GST had just been introduced. According to Airtel, the telco paid excess cash towards GST to the tune of Rs 9.23 billion, instead of utilising the available input tax credit, as there was no automated reconciliation available at that time.
In May 2020, the order by the Delhi High Court gave freedom to the company to avail the amount of Rs. 9.23 billion as input tax credit in the subsequent returns filed by the operator. In its order, the high court had directed the government to verify the excess GST claim within two weeks of the order and refund the amount to Bharti Airtel.
Following this, the government moved the Supreme Court against Delhi High Court’s order.