Sl. No.01 07.07.2026 Suman Ct.06. Calcutta High Court In the Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri Appellate Side WPA 641 of 2025 Chandan Chaki VS. The State of West Bengal & Ors. Mr. Bikramaditya Ghosh Mr. Mayank Bhandari Mr. Ved Rai Mr. Vivek Saha Mr. Binayak Bandopadhyay ..for the petitioner Mr. Jagriti Mishra, ld. AAAG Ms. Radhika Agarwal ..for the State The affidavit of service filed on behalf of the petitioner be kept with the record. The Assistant Commissioner, West Bengal Goods and Services Tax (WBGST), Cooch Behar, being respondent no. 6 herein, issued a notice dated September 29, 2023, under Section 73(1) of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act of 2017"), calling upon the petitioner to show cause as to why the amount specified therein, together with applicable interest, should not be recovered from him. The petitioner did not file any reply to the said show cause notice. 2 Thereafter, in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 73(9) of the Act of 2017, respondent no. 6 determined the tax, interest, and penalty payable by the petitioner and raised the consequential demand. Mr. Bikramaditya Ghosh, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, submits that the petitioner is the sole proprietor of a proprietorship concern, namely Dhruba Electricals, and is a registered taxable person within the meaning of the Act of 2017. He submits that the petitioner is engaged, inter alia, in the execution of civil construction works for various Government and semi-Government authorities, including the North Bengal Development Department and the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited. The present dispute pertains to works executed by the petitioner during the financial year 2017–18. It is submitted that the petitioner discharged the tax liability contemplated under the relevant Notices Inviting Tender (NITs), which had been prepared on the basis of the pre-GST tax regime. The tender documents neither contemplated nor included liability under the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, while determining the estimated contract value. 3 Learned counsel further submits that the petitioner had no intention to evade payment of tax. According to him, the petitioner was unable to discharge the GST liability since he could not recover the applicable GST component from the concerned Government and semi-Government departments, the contracts having been awarded on the basis of the pre-GST regime. Mr. Ghosh submits that the Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Government of West Bengal, is the appropriate authority to address the petitioner's grievance. He, therefore, seeks liberty to submit a comprehensive representation before the said authority. He further prays that, pending consideration of such representation, the taxing authorities be restrained from taking any coercive steps for recovery of the disputed demand. Mr. Jagriti Mishra, learned Assistant Additional Advocate General, appearing for the State, submits that the petitioner is required to satisfy the statutory demand in the first instance and may thereafter take appropriate steps for recovery of the amount from the authority for whom the contractual work was executed. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and upon considering the materials placed 4 on record, this Court is of the view that the petitioner's grievance may appropriately be considered by the Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Government of West Bengal. Accordingly, liberty is granted to the petitioner to submit a detailed representation before the Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Government of West Bengal, within a period of two weeks from the date of this order. Upon receipt of such representation, the said authority shall consider the same and pass a reasoned order in accordance with law within a period of six weeks thereafter. Until the disposal of the said representation, the taxing authorities shall not take any coercive steps against the petitioner for recovery of the demand raised pursuant to the impugned proceedings. Parties to act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. Urgent certified website copies of this order, if applied for, be made available to the parties upon compliance with the requisite formalities. (Kausik Chanda, J.)