A Supreme Court bench led by CJI Dr. DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, heard a writ petition filed by PokerBaazi, an online poker platform. The petition challenges a GST showcase notice. This case is now combined with the Gameskraft batch of cases, which were originally scheduled for a final hearing this month, May 2024.
At the previous hearing in the Gameskraft case, Ms. Charanya Lakshmikumaran was appointed as the nodal counsel for the petitioners. During the session, she updated the bench that the Union of India hadn’t filed the counter affidavit as expected in the earlier writ petition. ASG N. Venkatraman confirmed that the counter affidavit from the Union of India is prepared and will be submitted soon.
The court had set a deadline for filling the counter-affidavit by 15th May 2024 and completing the common compilation of all pleadings and cases by 15th July 2024.
The Chief Justice mentioned that the batch of cases will be listed after the court reopens from summer vacation in July 2024. He asked Ms. Lakshmikumaran to send an email to the registry regarding listing the cases, and he would then ensure fixed dates for the final hearing. Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Senior Counsel for PokerBaazi, requested the court not to take precipitative action, as per an earlier undertaking by ASG.
He also noted the department was issuing fresh show cause notices (SCNs), leading to companies filing new writs. ASG assured verbally that no coercive action would be taken, but he explained that the department might issue fresh SCNs due to time limitations for certain assessment periods.
Ms. Lakshmikumaran raised concerns about precipitative action in certain show cause notices (SCNs) issued to E-Gaming Federation members, despite ASG’s assurance. ASG responded by asking her to notify him of such instances to prevent coercive action.
CJI clarified that since no coercive steps were ongoing and ASG had assured in court, formal recording in the order was unnecessary.
The entire batch of GST cases related to online gaming and casinos is expected to open after the summer holidays of court, in July 2024.
Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates regarding GST issues in India.
