The Delhi High Court orders a Refund of ITC reversed through Form DRC-03 and Statement recorded at 11.30 p.m. while the Department was conducting the inspection, considering the reversal "Not Voluntary."

Facts of the case:
18-Oct-2022: Inspection was made on the business premises of the Petitioner located at Jai Mata Market, Tri Nagar, Delhi and Godown located at Bawana, Delhi.

The Petitioner claims that the inspection conducted was illegal as the authorization (INS-01) for the same was issued without mentioning any specific reason for the same.

The authorization i(INS-01) does not require the officer concerned to give any reasons in detail. It merely requires that the reason for which the search / inspection is to be conducted under the statute, be mentioned.

The detailed reasons are not required to be shared with the taxpayer prior to the search / inspection.

It is not disputed that the said deposit was made at about 11:30 pm during the course of the search proceedings.

In cases where the payment made during search is not voluntary, the taxpayer is required to be refunded the said deposit while reserving the right of the GST authorities to proceed against the said taxpayer to the full extent in accordance with law.

For the search continuing till late at night, there were no circumstances which would, in normal course, lead the petitioner to reverse the ITC late at night Respondents are directed to reverse the ITC in the petitioner’s Electronic Credit Ledger.