Natural justice in GST assessment: ex parte order quashed for lack of effective hearing notice and personal hearing.

An ex parte GST assessment order passed without effective notice of the hearing date and without affording a personal hearing was quashed for breach of natural justice. Where the authority fixed a hearing date but neither decided the matter on that date nor communicated the next date, the ex parte order could not be sustained. The matter was remitted for fresh consideration, with directions to grant a personal hearing and pass a reasoned order in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether an ex parte order passed under the GST law without effective notice of the hearing date and without affording a personal hearing was liable to be quashed, and whether the matter should be remitted for fresh consideration.

Analysis: The petitioner's challenge centered on breach of natural justice, as the impugned assessment order was passed ex parte and the subsequent date of hearing was not communicated. The Court treated the facts as materially similar to an earlier coordinate Bench decision and accepted that, where the authority fixes a hearing date but does not either decide the matter on that date or notify the next date, the resulting ex parte order cannot be sustained.

Conclusion: The ex parte order was quashed and set aside, and the authority was directed to grant a personal hearing and thereafter pass a reasoned order in accordance with law.

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