Natural justice required proper service of GST notice before ex parte demand order; matter remitted for fresh hearing.

An ex parte demand order under Section 73 of the Meghalaya GST Act was set aside because the record did not show proper physical or offline service of the show cause notice, and the petitioner was denied a fair opportunity to respond. The court found that the petitioner's GST registration had not been shown as revived, but that did not cure the absence of effective notice. The order was quashed for breach of natural justice and the matter was remitted for fresh consideration after permitting a reply and affording a hearing.

---

---

Issues: Whether the ex parte demand order passed under Section 73 of the Meghalaya Goods and Services Tax Act, 2022 was liable to be set aside for want of proper service of the show cause notice and denial of opportunity of hearing.

Analysis: The petitioner's GST registration had already been cancelled and there was nothing to show that it had been revived. The record did not disclose any physical or offline service of the show cause notice before passing the ex parte order. In the absence of material showing effective service or a fair opportunity to respond, the order was passed in breach of the principles of natural justice.

Conclusion: The ex parte order was quashed and the matter was sent back for consideration afresh after permitting the petitioner to file a reply and after affording an opportunity of hearing.

---