Unsigned GST assessment orders are invalid where the assessing officer's signature is mandatory and the defect cannot be cured

An assessment order under the GST regime must bear the assessing officer's signature; an unsigned Form GST DRC-07 is invalid and cannot be validated by Sections 160 and 169 of the CGST Act. Following earlier Division Bench authority, the Court treated signature as a mandatory requirement, not a dispensable formality, and held that the defect went to the validity of the order itself. The unsigned assessment order was therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether an assessment order in Form GST DRC-07 is invalid when it does not bear the signature of the assessing officer, and whether such defect can be cured by Sections 160 and 169 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Analysis: The order challenged before the Court was an assessment order issued in Form GST DRC-07 without the signature of the assessing officer. The Court followed earlier Division Bench decisions holding that signature on an assessment order is not a dispensable formality and that the defect is not cured by the saving or service provisions in Sections 160 and 169 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Conclusion: The unsigned assessment order was held invalid and was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessment order under the GST regime must bear the signature of the assessing officer, and the absence of such signature renders the order invalid without being cured by Sections 160 and 169 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

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