AdvertisementThe article compares the European Union’s Kittel principle with Section 16(2)(c) of the CGST Act, 2017 and discusses the Supreme Court’s decision in Bhandari Scrap Traders v. Union of India & Ors. GST ADJUDICATION: THE BONA FIDE PURCHASER AND THE FISCAL LEDGERThe Kittel Principle under European Union Law and Section 16(2)(c) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017A Comparative Note, with Recommended Safeguards for the Bona Fide BuyerI. Clause (c) is, on a plain reading, agnostic to the purchaser’s knowledge, conduct, or diligence. Denial follows automatically upon the supplier’s failure to remit tax, irrespective of any knowledge or complicity on the part of the purchaser. Position of the bona fide purchaser Expressly protected; the right to deduct cannot be taken away from a purchaser who exercised reasonable diligence and had no knowledge of the fraud.