J&K High Court Rules Cross-LoC Trade Intra-State

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has decided that the trade between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) across the Line of Control (LoC) is considered intra-state trade under the GST Act.

This means that the trade is treated as happening within the same state, which is Jammu and Kashmir.

The court was dealing with complaints from traders who had done barter (exchange of goods without money) transactions across the LoC between 2017 and 2019.

The traders argued that they should not have to pay GST on these transactions, but the court disagreed and said they should follow the usual legal processes to challenge the GST demands.

The court also noted that PoK is legally part of Jammu and Kashmir, even though it is controlled by Pakistan.

The trade was started in 2008 as part of India-Pakistan confidence-building measures and was suspended after the 2019 Pulwama attack.