ValkyaEditorial

Tagged “plant-or-machinery”

1 article on plant-or-machinery.

Landmark JudgmentSupreme Court of India

Safari Retreats v. Union of India: how the Supreme Court read 'plant or machinery' to permit ITC on commercial leasing buildings — and how the Finance Act 2025 retrospectively undid the reading

On 3 October 2024, a two-judge bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Sanjay Karol held that the textual choice of 'plant or machinery' — rather than 'plant and machinery' — in *Section 17(5)(d) of the CGST Act, 2017* was deliberate, and that a building could qualify as 'plant' for input-tax-credit purposes if the functionality test was satisfied. The Finance Act 2025 substituted 'and' for 'or' with retrospective effect from 1 July 2017, nullifying the reading; the review petition was dismissed on 20 May 2025; constitutional challenges to the retrospective amendment are now mounting in the High Courts. A digest of the holding, the legislative reversal, and the live constitutional terrain.

Valkya Editorial··15 min