Big Relief to Exporters: Gujarat HC Declares Omission of Rule 96(10) Retrospective, Orders..

In a major relief for exporters, the Gujarat High Court has declared that the omission of Rule 96(10) of the CGST Rules is to be treated as having retrospective effect. This rule had placed restrictions on exporters who had availed certain exemptions from claiming a refund of the Integrated GST (IGST) paid on their exports. The court held that the subsequent omission of this restrictive rule was intended to cure a defect and should therefore apply from the date the rule was originally introduced. Based on this retrospective interpretation, the High Court has directed the GST authorities to process all pending IGST refund claims that were previously stuck due to the now-omitted rule. This landmark judgment will unlock a significant amount of working capital for numerous exporters and resolves a major contentious issue that has been hampering export-related GST refunds.