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M/S Vertilink Media Solutions Private Limited vs. Anti Evasion Branch & Ors.

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026:DHC:8256-DBDecided 25 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
W.P.(C) 13077/2026CNR: DLHC010423722026
Justice Anil Kshetarpal · Justice Rajneesh Kumar Gupta

Background

The petitioner company challenged a Rs. 10.57 crore GST demand raised by a Delhi tax officer, arguing that a separate, larger fraud investigation by central GST intelligence officers (DGGI) covering the same period had already concluded, with the main accused company having paid its dues, so a second demand against it for the same period was barred by law preventing parallel proceedings by different tax authorities. The petitioner had not appealed the demand order within the normal time limit, instead filing only a rectification application.

Decision Breakdown

The Court found the writ petition suffered from unexplained delay since the petitioner had bypassed the statutory appeal route and only challenged the order roughly two years later. On the merits, it held that the two proceedings, one under Section 73 concerning incorrectly declared tax liability and improper input tax credit, the other under Section 74 concerning fraudulent credit claims against forty-five noticees, concerned different subject matters and different statutory provisions, so the legal bar on parallel proceedings did not apply merely because both related to the same company and overlapping periods. The petition was accordingly dismissed, though the petitioner retained the right to pursue its pending rectification application.

Lesson Learnt

A business facing multiple tax investigations from different wings of the GST authorities cannot assume they automatically overlap and cancel each other out: the specific legal ground and nature of each demand must genuinely be identical for the "same subject matter" bar to apply, and appeal deadlines should not be allowed to lapse while relying on that argument.

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