Natural justice in GST service of notice requires effective alternative service when registration is cancelled and portal notice may be missed.

Where a GST registration had already been cancelled and the assessee was no longer carrying on business, mere uploading of the section 73 show-cause notice on the GST portal was held insufficient to constitute effective service. The court treated proper alternative service as necessary so that the notice was actually received before any adverse order was passed, and found the decision-making process vitiated by breach of natural justice. The assessment order was quashed and set aside, with liberty to the department to issue a proper notice and proceed in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order passed under Section 73 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 was liable to be set aside for breach of natural justice where the petitioner's registration had already been cancelled and the show-cause notice was only uploaded on the GST portal.

Analysis: The petitioner's registration had been cancelled and no business was carried on thereafter. In that situation, the petitioner could not be expected to keep checking the GST portal. Service of the show-cause notice had to be effected by an appropriate alternative mode so that effective notice was received before the adverse order was passed. Since the record disclosed non-compliance with this requirement, the decision-making process was vitiated by breach of natural justice.

Conclusion: The impugned order was quashed and set aside, and the department was permitted to issue a proper notice and proceed in accordance with law.

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