GST: Madras HC Quashes Order Passed Without Giving Chance to Be Heard

The petitioner received a show cause notice, which he failed to reply to, and the tax officer passed a final order to the petitioner. The petitioner filed 2 writ petitions challenging the assessment orders dated 03.09.2024 issued by the State Tax Officer for the financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22.

Petitioner’s Arguments

The learned counsel of the Petitioner submitted that the show cause notices (SCN) were uploaded on the GST portal on 05.05.2024 and not in physical form. Due to this, the petitioner was not aware of the SCN and could not submit the response. This resulted in the state officer passing final orders dated 03.09.2024. The learned council further submitted that even the final orders were issued on the GST portal in “view additional notices column“.

Additionally, the petitioner filed appeals before the First Appellate Authority, the Deputy Commissioner of State Tax, by depositing 10% of the disputed tax amount. However, the appeals were rejected because they were filed late.

Madras High Court Decision

The Madras High Court observed that the GST notices were uploaded on the portal online, and no physical copies were issued to the petitioner. Because of this, the petitioner was unaware of the show-cause notice and failed to respond.

It further notes that even the final orders were uploaded on the GST portal, due to which the petitioner could not reply on time. Therefore, the court ruled in favour of the petitioner and condoned the delay in filing the appeals against the final order dated 03.09.2024. The court gave the following instructions:

• The Appellate Authority is ordered to accept the appeals if the petitioner pays 15% of the disputed tax in addition to the 10% statutory predeposit (total 25% of the disputed tax amount).
• The petitioner must submit their reply along with supporting documents to the Appellate Authority.
• The Appellate Authority must then hear the petitioner’s side and pass a fresh order after hearing the petitioner.