The Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench, has stayed the demand of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on royalty payments made by miners, pending the outcome of related proceedings before the Supreme Court and another writ petition pending before the High Court.
The Division Bench comprising Justice Shekhar B. Saraf and Justice Prashant Kumar heard the counsel for the petitioner, Mudit Agarwal, submitted that the question of whether GST is payable on mining royalty is already under consideration before the Supreme Court in SLP (C) No. 37326 of 2017, where the apex court has granted a stay on payment of GST on royalty.
The Bench noted that the same issue is also being examined by the Allahabad High Court in Writ Tax No. 823 of 2025and directed that the present petition be listed along with that case.
In the interim, the Court granted relief to the petitioner by staying the GST demand for the tax periods 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, and 2022–23, relying on the reasons recorded in an earlier leading case—Writ Tax No. 475 of 2021at Allahabad, where similar interim protection had been granted.
The Court’s direction provides temporary respite to the mining leaseholders who have been facing GST demands on royalty payments, a contentious issue that continues to be litigated at multiple judicial levels.
Case Title: Gopal Pandey v. State of U.P. & Others
Case No.: Writ Tax No. 1053 of 2025
Date: 07/10/2025
Counsel for Petitioner: Mudit Agarwal
Counsel for Respondents: C.S.C., K.D. Nag
