Facts of the Case

Partnership History
Firm: M/s Foreigners Auto Zone

• Harvinder Singh (petitioner) retired on 20.04.2021.

• His brother, Raswinder Singh, continued as an active partner.

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Assessment and Liability

The firm was assessed under Section 73 of the CGST/PGST Act for FY 2023-24.

GST liability: ₹37,84,228 due to discrepancies.

• Recovery proceedings initiated under Section 79.
• Property of Harvinder Singh attached for recovery.

Petitioner’s Claim

• Claimed no involvement during the default period (2022–2023).
• He argued he had retired and had no access to the GST portal.
• Asserted he was not liable post-retirement.

Respondent’s Argument

• Cited Section 90 of the CGST Act:
• Retirement must be intimated in writing to the Commissioner within one month.
• Since no such intimation was made, liability continued.
• GST records still showed Harvinder as an active partner.

Court’s Findings

Legal Provision
Section 90: Partners are jointly and severally liable for GST unless proper intimation of retirement is given.

• If intimation is not made within one month, liability continues until the date of such intimation.

Section 90 IGST: According to Section 90 of the CGST Act, a partnership firm's partners are also liable.  According to this section, each partner in the business will be held jointly and severally responsible for any taxes, interest, or penalties that the industry is unable to pay.

Application to Case

• Harvinder Singh retired on 20.04.2021, but intimation was made only on 28.02.2025.
• Delay in intimation = continued liability for GST till 28.02.2025.

The court rejected his defense and held that the firm's responsibility to update records does not negate his own duty.

Conduct of Petitioner

• His brother remained an active partner; he could have helped in timely intimation.
• No evidence of efforts made to inform authorities earlier.

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