In a major relief to the Ultratech Cement, the Orissa High Court set aside the Retrospective amendment in Industrial Policy Resolution denying GST reimbursement.
The Petitioner is stated to be operating cement manufacturing units in various states in India including a cement manufacturing unit in Jharsuguda District in Odisha. According to the Petitioners, the said unit is a state-of-the-art cement manufacturing industrial unit which, inter alia, utilizes intermediate products (clinker) and waste products (fly ash) generated by other industrial undertakings along with gypsum as a raw material to manufacture high-quality cement.
It is stated that the cement manufacturing process undertaken by Petitioner is a controlled manufacturing process resulting in high-value addition, employment generation, and revenue augmentation. It is stated that the said manufacturing process requires substantial investment in high-end plant and machinery, monitoring and regulation through sophisticated electrical, mechanical and instrumentation systems by qualified technical personnel.
The division bench headed by Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar and Justice A.K. Mohapatra noted that the opposite Parties themselves have granted the eligibility certificate and verification certificate. In fact, the orders sanctioning the VAT reimbursement have been passed on 6th June 2017. Therefore, there is absolutely no justification in denial of the benefit of SGST reimbursement to Petitioner.
The Court rejected the plea of the opposite Parties that it is being called upon in the present case to review a policy decision. The Court is in fact being asked to examine the reasonableness of the decision of the Opposite Parties to retrospectively take away the benefits already extended to an existing unit under IPR 2007. Consequently, none of the decisions relied upon by the Opposite Parties in the context of judicial review of policy decisions of the State have any applicability to the facts of the present case.
The Court sets aside the order dated 6th October 2018 issued by the Director of Industries withdrawing the earlier order granting Petitioner the exemption. The Court also sets aside the resolution dated 18th August 2020 retrospectively amending IPR 2007. It is clarified that the said amendment would have only a prospective effect and would not affect the entitlement of Petitioner to the incentives for the period prior to the said amendment.
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