Proper service of GST notice under Section 169(1) was mandatory, so the assessment order was set aside.

Proper service of notice under Section 169(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 was required in the prescribed modes, and the Madras HC applied its earlier batch ruling to hold that the assessment order could not be sustained where that service requirement was not met. The impugned order was set aside, the assessee was directed to file a reply to the show cause notice and be given a hearing, and the matter was to be decided afresh on merits in accordance with law. Any bank attachment was also to be lifted.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order could be sustained when notice was required to be served in the modes prescribed under Section 169(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Analysis: The order challenged in the writ petition was passed for the assessment year 2018-19. The Court applied the earlier batch decision holding that an assessee is entitled to service of notice in the modes contemplated under clauses (a), (b) and (c) of Section 169(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. As the same principle governed the present matter, the impugned assessment order could not be sustained. Consequentially, the assessee was to file a reply to the show cause notice, be afforded a hearing, and the matter was to be decided afresh on merits in accordance with law.

Conclusion: The assessment order was set aside and the writ petition was allowed in favour of the assessee, with consequential lifting of the bank attachment, if any.

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