Advance Ruling case laws

Rakesh Kumar Singh, In re

In favour of the revenue

Rakesh Kumar Singh, a Kolkata trader in dried and cured tobacco leaves, applied to the West Bengal Authority for Advance Ruling (Order No. 09/WBAAR/2026-27, 1 September 2026) for classification and GST rate on unmanufactured tobacco, including whether the supply was exempt agricultural produce. Revenue pointed to prior Section 129 enforcement in June 2025, where intercepted goods were held to be unmanufactured tobacco taxable at 28%, contrary to documents showing 5%, and the applicant had admitted the infringement and paid IGST penalty. The Authority examined Section 98(2) CGST and its first proviso, which bars admitting an advance ruling where the same question is already pending or decided in proceedings against the applicant under the Act. After multiple hearing opportunities, the application was rejected as inadmissible rather than ruled on merits. Outcome favoured revenue in the sense that no favourable ruling was issued; the bar under Section 98(2) applied. This is a procedural precedent on repeat questions after enforcement, not tax advice.