GST proceedings cannot survive when they arise solely from non-communication of an already filed return and paid tax.

An assessment, demand and appellate order under the GST law could not be sustained where the taxpayer had already filed the return and paid tax, and the only trigger for proceedings was failure to intimate that filing in the prescribed Form DRC-01B. The Court accepted the revenue's admitted position that no further action would have been initiated if the filing had been communicated properly, and held that proceedings continued solely because of that communication lapse lacked foundation. The impugned orders were therefore set aside and the writ petition succeeded.

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Issues: Whether the assessment, demand and appellate orders under the GST enactments could be sustained when the return and tax payment had already been filed, and the proceedings were initiated only because the filing was not communicated in the prescribed form.

Analysis: The admitted stand in the counter affidavit was that if the petitioner had intimated the authority through the prescribed Form DRC-01B after filing the return on 07.12.2020, no further proceedings would have been initiated under Sections 73 and 74 of the GST enactments. The Court accepted the admitted fact that the return had already been filed and found that the continuation of the proceedings and the resulting orders were only a consequence of non-communication of that filing to the authority. In that situation, the foundation for the impugned proceedings did not survive.

Conclusion: The impugned assessment order, demand and appellate order were not sustainable and were set aside.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded and the tax proceedings founded solely on the communication lapse were annulled.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the revenue itself admits that no further proceedings would have been initiated had the taxpayer communicated an already filed return in the prescribed manner, proceedings initiated and continued solely due to such non-communication cannot be sustained.

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