The Allahabad High Court has directed Northern Coalfields Limited to issue Form E-1 to the petitioner, enabling concessional tax treatment under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.
The bench of Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Swarupama Chaturvedi has observed that the nature of the transaction as an inter-State sale had attained finality and could no longer be disputed. It held that once Form C had been issued and the transaction involved transfer of documents of title, the petitioner was entitled to Form E-1 as a matter of statutory compliance.
The case involved M/s Shree Enterprises Coal Sales Pvt. Ltd., which had purchased coal through an e-auction and subsequently effected transit sales to another state. The petitioner contended that despite issuing Form C, it was denied the benefit of concessional tax due to the non-issuance of Form E-1 by the supplier.
Initially, the High Court had dismissed the writ petition in 2018, observing that the dispute appeared contractual and therefore not maintainable under Article 226 of the Constitution. However, the Supreme Court of India set aside this view in 2022, clarifying that the dispute was not purely contractual and required adjudication on merits. The matter was accordingly remanded to the High Court for fresh consideration.
Upon reconsideration, the High Court noted that the assessing authority had already treated the transaction as an inter-State sale in its order dated March 26, 2018. The only impediment to granting concessional tax was the absence of Form E-1, which the supplier had refused to issue based on its legal interpretation.
The Court directed Northern Coalfields Limited to prepare a certificate in the format of Form E-1 within one month. The certificate is to be verified by the assessing officer strictly for transactional details such as invoice date, dispatch date, quantity, and value—without re-examining the nature of the transaction.
Following issuance and endorsement, the petitioner is required to submit the certificate to its assessing authority, which shall acknowledge the same and extend the benefit of concessional CST at 2%. The Court also directed that any excess tax recovered be refunded to the petitioner within a stipulated timeframe.
Importantly, the Court clarified that this ruling has been passed to bring a “quietus” to a legacy dispute and should not be treated as a precedent for future cases.
Case Details
Case Title: M/S Shree Enterprises Coal Sales Pvt. Ltd. Bulandshahar Versus Union Of India And Another
Citation: JURISHOUR-842-HC-2026(ALL)
Case No.: WRIT TAX No. – 850 of 2016
Date: 10/04/2026
Counsel For Petitioner: Aloke Kumar, Ashok Shankar Bhatnagar, Harshul Bhatnagar
Counsel For Respondent: A.S.G.I., C.S.C., Krishna Agarawal, Mritunjay Tiwari
