GST demand notices require Proper Officer authentication; unsigned show-cause notices and final orders were held invalid.

Under the GST demand and recovery scheme, show-cause notices and final orders must comply with the prescribed statutory forms, including authentication by the Proper Officer's signature. The Court held that the signature requirement in Rule 142 and Forms GST DRC-01 and GST DRC-07 has statutory force, and its omission is not a curable technical defect. Rule 26(3) was confined to registration provisions and did not govern demand proceedings, while Section 160 of the CGST Act could not cure the absence of signature. Unsigned notices and orders were therefore invalid and unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether show-cause notices and final orders issued under the GST regime, but uploaded on the portal without the physical or digital signature of the Proper Officer, were valid and enforceable.

Analysis: The prescribed GST forms for demand proceedings require particulars such as signature, name, designation, jurisdiction and address, and the Court held that these form requirements have statutory force. Rule 26(3) was found to be confined to Chapter III relating to registration and therefore not decisive for notices and orders issued under the demands-and-recovery provisions. The Court held that the statutory scheme of Rule 142 and Forms GST DRC-01 and GST DRC-07 makes signature mandatory, and that the absence of signature cannot be cured by Section 160 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The Court also relied on the settled principle that an order becomes operative only when signed, and held that the information technology provisions did not dilute the need for authentication in the prescribed manner.

Conclusion: Unsigned show-cause notices and final orders were held invalid and unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the governing statute and prescribed forms make signature an integral part of the notice or order, issuance without the Proper Officer's signature is not a mere technical defect but renders the action invalid.

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