GST proceedings under section 74 need not await section 61 verification; portal service and digital authentication were upheld.

Proceedings under section 74 of the West Bengal GST Act were held not to depend on prior verification under section 61, which was not a statutory pre-condition for initiation. Notices uploaded on the GST portal as "Additional Notices and Orders" were treated as valid service because the portal was accessible to the taxpayer and email intimation was also sent. The objection that the notices were unsigned failed, as portal-generated notices were digitally authenticated and the statute provided an opportunity to respond. The taxpayer's non-participation and failure to answer the notices defeated the plea of denial of natural justice, and the challenge to the notices and order was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the proceedings under section 74 of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 were invalid for want of prior verification under section 61, alleged absence of authentication and improper service of notices, and alleged denial of personal hearing.

Analysis: Section 74 operates where it appears to the proper officer that tax has not been paid or has been short paid, and prior verification under section 61 is neither a statutory pre-condition nor a sine qua non for initiating proceedings. The notices uploaded on the GST portal under the category of "Additional Notices and Orders" were treated as valid service, since the portal was accessible to the registered taxpayer and contemporaneous email intimation was also sent. The objection that the notices were unsigned was rejected because portal-generated notices are digitally authenticated and the statute itself affords an opportunity to make a representation. The petitioner having not responded to the notices or participated in the proceedings could not successfully invoke breach of natural justice.

Conclusion: The challenge to the impugned notices and order failed, and the proceedings under section 74 were upheld.

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