GST communication without DIN is invalid, and an assessment order may be set aside for that procedural defect.

An assessment order under the GST regime without a DIN number is treated as invalid, because communications issued without DIN do not satisfy the prescribed procedural requirement. The text notes that the settled position in GST matters, supported by the binding CBIC circular and existing judicial view, is that absence of DIN undermines the validity of the order. On that basis, the assessment order was liable to be set aside for want of DIN.

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Issues: Whether an assessment order under the Goods and Services Tax regime is liable to be set aside for non-mention of a DIN number.

Analysis: The assessment order did not contain a DIN number. The Court applied the settled position that, in GST proceedings, a communication or order without a DIN number is not valid. Reliance was placed on the binding effect of the circular issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and the existing judicial view that absence of DIN undermines the validity of the proceeding.

Conclusion: The assessment order was invalid for want of DIN and was therefore liable to be set aside.

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