Personal hearing under GST cannot be waived by portal omission; assessment order quashed and remanded for reconsideration.

Section 75(4) of the Tamil Nadu GST Act requires a personal hearing when requested or when an adverse order is proposed. An express request made in the reply to the show cause notice was sufficient, and failure to tick the hearing box on the GST portal did not amount to waiver of that statutory right. Because the hearing requirement was not complied with, the assessment order could not be sustained and was quashed, with the matter remanded for fresh consideration after granting a reasonable opportunity, including a personal hearing.

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Issues: Whether the impugned assessment order was liable to be quashed for non-grant of a personal hearing despite an express request and whether the matter required remand for fresh consideration.

Analysis: Section 75(4) of the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 requires a personal hearing when requested or when an adverse order is proposed. The petitioner had expressly sought a personal hearing in the reply to the show cause notice. The omission to tick the hearing request box on the GST portal did not amount to waiver of the statutory right. Since the hearing requirement was not complied with, the order could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The impugned order was quashed and the matter was remanded for reconsideration after granting the petitioner a reasonable opportunity, including a personal hearing.

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