Natural justice in GST adjudication requires an effective hearing before demand orders are passed; order quashed and remanded.

The show cause notice fixed the personal hearing date before the time allowed for filing a reply, so the hearing became an empty formality. Because no effective opportunity of hearing was afforded before the adjudication order, the statutory safeguard under Section 75(4) of the Uttar Pradesh GST Act was violated and the demand order could not be sustained. The impugned order was quashed and the matter remanded for a fresh decision after considering any further response and granting a proper hearing.

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Issues: Whether the demand order passed under Section 74 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 was liable to be quashed for breach of the requirement of granting an opportunity of hearing under Section 75(4) of the Act.

Analysis: The show cause notice fixed the date of personal hearing earlier than the date for filing reply, making the hearing an empty formality. The record showed that no effective opportunity of hearing was afforded before passing the adjudication order. In these circumstances, the statutory safeguard of hearing under Section 75(4) stood violated and the order could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The impugned demand order was quashed and the matter was remanded to the adjudicating authority for fresh decision after considering any further response and granting an opportunity of hearing.

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