Natural justice requires consideration of a pre-show-cause reply before issuing a non-speaking notice; matter remanded for fresh hearing.

A show-cause notice was found vulnerable where the authority had not shown consideration of the petitioner's detailed reply to the pre-show-cause notice. The court treated the notice as non-speaking and held that issuance without due consideration of the material furnished breached natural justice. The notice was therefore set aside, and the matter was remanded to the GST authority for fresh consideration after examining the reply and granting an opportunity of hearing.

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Issues: Whether the impugned show-cause notice was liable to be set aside for non-consideration of the petitioner's reply to the pre-show-cause notice and for breach of natural justice, and whether the matter required remand for fresh consideration.

Analysis: The petitioners' detailed reply dated 26 December 2023 to the pre-show-cause notice was placed on record. The authority was unable to show that this reply had been considered or discussed before issuance of the show-cause notice dated 29 December 2023. The notice was therefore treated as non-speaking and as having been issued without due consideration of the material furnished by the petitioner. In these circumstances, the proper course was to set aside the notice and remit the matter to the authority for reconsideration after taking the reply into account, with an opportunity of hearing to be afforded.

Conclusion: The impugned show-cause notice was set aside and the matter was remanded to the GST authority for fresh consideration after examining the petitioner's reply and granting an opportunity of hearing.

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