Summons under GST inquiry need not await a section 73 decision when the statutory scheme contains no such pre-condition.

Section 70 of the CGST Act permits the proper officer to summon a person or require documents in aid of an inquiry, and the inquiry is treated as a judicial proceeding. On the facts, repeated calls for documents were not complied with and the authorities formed a prima facie view of tax evasion. The court found no statutory basis for the contention that summons and hearing proceedings under section 70 could proceed only after first deciding the taxpayer's representation under section 73. The claimed pre-condition was not supported by the statutory scheme, so the challenge to the summons and personal hearing notice failed and relief was denied.

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Issues: Whether summons and hearing proceedings under section 70 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 could be quashed on the ground that the authorities were first bound to decide the petitioner's representation under section 73 before proceeding further.

Analysis: Section 70 empowers the proper officer to summon any person whose attendance or documents are considered necessary in an inquiry, and such inquiry is deemed to be a judicial proceeding. The record showed repeated calls for documents and non-compliance, and a prima facie view that tax had been evaded. No legal basis was shown to hold that recourse to section 70 is permissible only after a decision under section 73. The statutory scheme did not support the claimed pre-condition.

Conclusion: The challenge to the summons and personal hearing notice failed, and the relief sought was denied.

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