2025 (6) TMI 999 - HC - GST

Tax Notice via Common Portal Deemed Valid Service: Digital Communication Meets Legal Notice Requirements Under Section 169(1)(d)

HC dismissed writ petition challenging tax order, ruling that notice uploaded on common portal constitutes valid service under Section 169(1)(d) of ... Service of SCN - Challenge to order passed u/s 73 of the SGST/CGST Act, 2017 - even though the notice to the petitioner was uploaded in the portal, the same was not served upon the petitioner - violation of principles of natural justice - HELD THAT:- As far as the service of notice is concerned, Section 169 of the SGST/CGST Act, contemplates various methods for the same. Section 169(1)(d) contemplates for service of notice by way of making it available in the common portal. Since the statute recognizes any one of the modes as referred to in Section 169(1) as the proper service of notice, the effective service through any one of the modes would amount to sufficient notice for initiating or continuing proceedings under the Act. The issue raised by the petitioner has been decided by a Division Bench of this Court in Sunil Kumar K. v. The State Tax Officer -I, Kottarakkara [2024 (7) TMI 915 - KERALA HIGH COURT], wherein, it was held that, the service of notice by making it available on the portal, would be sufficient. There are no justifiable reasons to entertain this writ petition and accordingly, it is dismissed. The Kerala High Court, through Justice Ziyad Rahman A. A., dismissed the writ petition challenging Ext.P5 order issued under Section 73 of the SGST/CGST Act, 2017. The petitioner contended that the order was passed without proper service of notice, arguing that mere uploading of the notice on the portal did not satisfy the service requirements under Section 169(1)(a), (b), and (c) of the Act. The Court held that Section 169(1)(d) explicitly recognizes service by making the notice available on the common portal as valid service. Citing the Division Bench decision in *Sunil Kumar K. v. The State Tax Officer -I, Kottarakkara*, W.A. No.938/2024, the Court affirmed that 'service of notice by making it available on the portal, would be sufficient.' Consequently, the petition was dismissed for lack of merit, without prejudice to the petitioner's right to pursue statutory remedies.