Common portal service and natural justice concerns led to fresh opportunity to contest input tax credit reversal.

The Madras HC held that an assessment order confirming reversal of input tax credit could be interfered with where notices were only uploaded on the common portal and effective service was disputed, causing non-participation in the adjudication. Noting that the petitioner had already reversed the input tax credit and paid the disputed tax, with only interest and penalty remaining in issue, the Court set aside the impugned order, treated it as a show cause notice, and granted one final opportunity to file objections within two weeks before fresh adjudication after a reasonable hearing.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order confirming reversal of input tax credit could be interfered with and the petitioner granted a further opportunity to file objections.

Analysis: The petitioner asserted that the notices and the impugned order were only uploaded in the common portal and were not effectively served, resulting in non-participation in the adjudication process. It was also noted that the petitioner had already reversed the input tax credit and remitted the disputed tax, while the dispute surviving was limited to interest and penalty. In these circumstances, the Court considered it appropriate to afford one final opportunity to contest the proposal.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and treated as a show cause notice, with liberty to the petitioner to file objections within two weeks and for the authority to pass fresh orders after granting a reasonable opportunity of hearing.

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