Court strikes down part of GST levy on unregistered-brand pulses, clarifies limits on GST Council’s role and CBIC’s power to issue notifications – Madras High Court

In brief

In a recent judgement,¹ the Madras High Court struck down parts of goods and services tax (GST) notifications expanding levy on unregistered brand pulses, holding that notifications issued under sections 9 and 11 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act) must strictly follow GST Council recommendations. It ruled that the GST Council has no power to ratify notifications issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), thereby invalidating the levy of GST on a brand name on which an ‘enforceable right in a court of law’ is available; the court also upheld levy based only on brand names on which actionable claim is available.