The Tribunal dismissed the appeal, holding that the product was always taxable under Tariff Item 73239410 from inception of GST, and the 2018 amendment excluding 'Ghamella' from Chapter 82 was merely clarificatory.
The GSTAT Lucknow Bench has dismissed the appeal of M/s Roongta Ispat Udyog, upholding a demand of ₹94,18,554 along with interest and equivalent penalty for classifying 'Tasla/Ghamella' under HSN 82019000 (agricultural hand tools, nil-rated) instead of the correct HSN 73239410 (domestic articles of iron/steel, 18% GST) during July 2017 to January 2018. [M/s Roongta Ispat Udyog v. Commissioner CGST & Central Excise, Kanpur & Ors.]
Members Santosh Kumar Srivastava (Judicial) and Arvind Kumar (Technical) held that the specific tariff description for 'Ghamellas' under Tariff Item 73239410 was fully active from the inception of the GST regime. The subsequent addition of the words 'other than Ghamellas' under Heading 8201 was strictly a clarificatory amendment to eliminate ambiguity and plug the tax loophole.
The Tribunal noted that the appellant itself shifted to HSN 73239410 and began paying 18% GST from 23.01.2018, without any change in the product's raw materials, manufacturing process, or end use — demonstrating that the deliberate manipulation of invoice descriptions to claim nil-rate amounted to wilful suppression.
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