GST Demand Following Omission of Rule 96(10)

The Calcutta High Court quashed proceedings initiated under Section 74 of the CGST Act seeking recovery of IGST refunds allegedly availed in contravention of Rule 96(10) of the CGST Rules.

The Court held that once Rule 96(10) stood omitted by Notification No. 20/2024-Central Tax dated 8 October 2024 without any saving clause, all pending proceedings founded solely upon the said rule automatically lapsed. 

Relying extensively upon the Supreme Court judgments in Rayala Corporation and Kolhapur Canesugar Works Ltd., along with recent High Court precedents including HikalLimited and Addwrap Packaging, the Court held that omission of a rule without a saving clause obliterates the provision from the statute book as if it had never existed, thereby extinguishing all pending proceedings not constituting “transactions past and closed.”