Proper service of GST show cause notice requires effective portal access; defective upload cannot sustain adjudication.

Uploading a show cause notice in a portal category that is not effectively accessible to the taxpayer does not amount to proper service under the CGST framework. Where the notice was placed under an additional notices tab rather than in a readily accessible manner, the taxpayer was denied a fair opportunity to respond before adjudication. An order founded on such defective service cannot be sustained, and the matter must be restored for fresh adjudication after receipt of the response and grant of hearing.

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Issues: (i) Whether the show cause notice uploaded only under the heading of additional notices constituted proper service for proceedings under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. (ii) Whether the impugned order passed pursuant to such notice was liable to be set aside and the matter remanded for fresh adjudication.

Issue (i): Whether the show cause notice uploaded only under the heading of additional notices constituted proper service for proceedings under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Analysis: The notice was uploaded in a portal category that was not readily accessible in the manner expected for notices and orders. The authorities had since re-designed the portal to place the relevant tabs adjacent to each other under a common heading, which indicated that the earlier mode of uploading raised a genuine issue as to effective service.

Conclusion: The notice as uploaded did not constitute proper service for the impugned proceedings.

Issue (ii): Whether the impugned order passed pursuant to such notice was liable to be set aside and the matter remanded for fresh adjudication.

Analysis: Since the show cause notice had not been properly served and the petitioner had not been afforded a fair opportunity to respond before adjudication, the order based on that notice could not be sustained. The proper course was to restore the matter to the adjudicating authority for consideration after receiving the petitioner's response and after giving an opportunity of hearing.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remanded for fresh adjudication.

Final Conclusion: The petition succeeded to the extent that the adjudication based on the impugned notice was annulled and the dispute was sent back to the authority for a fresh decision after hearing the petitioner.

Ratio Decidendi: Uploading a show cause notice in a portal category that is not effectively accessible to the taxpayer does not amount to proper service for adjudicatory proceedings, and an order founded on such defective service cannot be sustained.

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