Personal hearing under GST procedure is mandatory before adverse order; omission led to quashing and remand.

An adverse order under the Uttar Pradesh GST Act could not be sustained where the assessee was not given a personal hearing under Section 75(4) before the order was passed. The Court treated the omission as a procedural infirmity, followed the coordinate Bench view, and held that the matter required reconsideration after allowing a fresh reply and hearing. The impugned order was quashed and the case was remitted to the competent authority to pass a reasoned decision within the stipulated time.

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Issues: Whether an adverse order under Section 74 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 could be sustained without granting the assessee an opportunity of personal hearing under Section 75(4) of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and the consequential relief.

Analysis: The Court followed the coordinate Bench decision holding that, before passing an adverse order, the proper course was to afford the petitioner an opportunity of personal hearing. Since such opportunity had not been granted, the impugned order suffered from procedural infirmity. The matter required reconsideration after permitting the petitioner to file a fresh reply and after fixing a hearing, followed by a reasoned decision within the stipulated time.

Conclusion: The impugned order was quashed and set aside, and the matter was remitted to the competent authority to provide a fresh opportunity of reply and hearing and then pass a reasoned order.

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