Effective service of GST notices on the portal is essential; assessment order set aside for denial of hearing.

An assessment order under Section 73 of the CGST/SGST regime was set aside because the show cause notice, reminder and order were not effectively accessible or served on the taxpayer through the GST portal, resulting in denial of a meaningful opportunity to reply and be heard. The Court noted the grievance that the notices were unsigned and not received in a manner that enabled effective participation, and accepted that the issue was covered by earlier decisions of the same Court. The taxpayer was granted time to reply to the show cause notice, and the adjudicating authority was directed to pass a fresh order in accordance with law after hearing the taxpayer.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order passed under Section 73 was liable to be set aside on the ground that the show cause notice and connected notices were not effectively accessible or served, resulting in denial of opportunity to reply and be heard.

Analysis: The petition challenged the order passed under Section 73 of the CGST/SGST regime for the relevant tax period on the assertion that the show cause notice, reminder and order were unsigned and had not been received by the petitioner. The grievance was that the notices were uploaded on the GST portal in a manner that did not afford meaningful access, thereby preventing a response to the notice and attendance at the personal hearing. The respondent accepted that the issue was covered by earlier decisions of the same Court and also indicated that the portal arrangement for notices had since been corrected. In these circumstances, the Court found that the petitioner had been deprived of an effective opportunity to respond.

Conclusion: The order was set aside and the petitioner was granted an opportunity to reply to the show cause notice, after which the adjudicating authority was to pass a fresh order in accordance with law after hearing the petitioner.

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