Taxpayer Wins Challenge Against GST Assessment Order, Authorities Ordered to Reconsider Evidence and Provide Fair Hearing

HC allowed the writ petition challenging a GST assessment order. The court found that the tax authorities failed to consider the petitioner's manually submitted reply before passing the order. The case was remitted for fresh proceedings, directing the respondent to review the reply, provide a hearing, and complete the process within 45 days.

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Issues:
The judgment involves the challenge to an Assessment Order in GSTN, suspension of GST registration, failure to reply and appear for a personal hearing, and the requirement for the reply to be considered before passing the Assessment Order.

Assessment Order Challenge:
The petitioner challenged the impugned Assessment Order dated 25.05.2023/26.05.2023, which confirmed the demand proposed in the Show Cause Notices issued under Section 73(1) of the TNGST Act, 2017. The respondent had suspended the petitioner's GST registration on 02.01.2023, but later revoked the proposal for cancellation. The Assessment Order noted that the petitioner had neither filed a reply nor appeared for a personal hearing.

Failure to Reply and Appear:
The respondent had sent a reminder to the petitioner on 09.02.2023 to reply to the Show Cause Notices and appear for a personal hearing on 15.02.2023. The petitioner failed to upload the reply on time but submitted it manually on 20.02.2023. The court observed that the reply, although manual, should have been considered before passing the Assessment Order.

Consideration of Reply:
The court found that the respondent should have accepted the manually filed reply before passing the Assessment Order. The petitioner's reply, dated 20.02.2023, should have been examined and considered before confirming the demand. The Assessment Order was deemed liable to be quashed, and the case was remitted back to the respondent for a fresh order on merits after duly considering the petitioner's reply.

Remedy and Further Proceedings:
The court directed the respondent to upload the manually filed reply in the portal for records and to give the petitioner an opportunity to be heard in the de novo proceedings. The respondent was instructed to complete the proceedings within 45 days from the date of the order. The petitioner was scheduled to appear for a first hearing on 14th August 2023 and was allowed to file additional reply/representation before that date. The Writ Petition was allowed with no costs, and connected Writ Miscellaneous Petitions were closed.

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