Judgment Overturns CGST Order Due to Improper Notice Service; Case Remanded for Reevaluation with Hearing Opportunity.

The HC set aside the impugned order under Section 73 of the CGST Act, 2017, due to inadequate service of the show cause notice, which was improperly categorized on the portal. The matter was remanded to the concerned authority for fresh adjudication. The petitioner was granted two weeks to respond, with a directive for the authority to consider the response and provide a hearing opportunity before making a decision. The petition and any pending applications were disposed of.

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Issues: Impugning an order under Section 73 of the CGST Act due to inadequate service of show cause notice.

The petitioner challenged an order passed under Section 73 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, based on a show cause notice dated 10.12.2023, which the petitioner claimed was not received. The petitioner argued that the notice was uploaded in a less accessible category on the portal, contending that notices should have been placed under a different heading. The issue was whether uploading notices under the category of 'Additional Notices' was sufficient service under Section 169 of the CGST Act, as per earlier court decisions.

The court referred to a previous decision where it was held that uploading notices under 'Additional Notices' was not adequate service under the CGST Act. The court cited a case from the High Court of Madras addressing a similar issue of notices being placed under different headings on the portal. The GST Authorities had subsequently re-designed the portal to rectify this issue. As the impugned show cause notice was issued before the portal redesign, the court allowed the petition, set aside the impugned order, and remanded the matter to the concerned authority for fresh adjudication. The petitioner was given two weeks to respond to the show cause notice, and the authority was directed to consider the response and provide an opportunity for the petitioner to be heard before making a decision. The petition was disposed of accordingly, along with any pending applications.

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