GST Notice u/s 61 stating Price Comparison Instead of Pointing Out Discrepancies beyond..

The Jharkhand High Court has ruled that a GST notice issued under Section 61 of the CGST Act is beyond the jurisdiction of the officer if it is based on a price comparison rather than on discrepancies in the returns. Section 61 allows an officer to scrutinize a taxpayer's returns and seek an explanation for any discrepancies found. In this case, the officer had issued a notice based on a comparison of the taxpayer's prices with those of their competitors. The High Court held that the GST law does not empower an officer to engage in price control or to question the pricing of goods or services. The officer's role is limited to verifying the correctness of the filed returns. By issuing a notice based on price comparison, the officer had exceeded their jurisdiction, and the court quashed the notice.