2026 (3) TMI 1433 - HC - GST

Invalid GST notice service and denial of personal hearing vitiated ex parte assessment and recovery proceedings.

Service of GST notices only through the portal was held insufficient where the taxpayer's registration had already been cancelled, because effective ... Validity of service through the common GST portal after cancellation of registration - effective service u/s 169 of the CGST Act - right to personal hearing u/s 75(4) of the CGST Act - audi alteram partem - Opportunity of personal hearing - Principles of natural justice. Portal-based service of notice - Ex parte assessment - Personal hearing - HELD THAT:- The Court held that the controversy stood covered by the Allahabad High Court decision by its own earlier decision in M/s Jaipal Singh vs. Commissioner, State Goods and Services Tax Commissionerate, Dehradun, Uttarakhand & another [2026 (2) TMI 995 - UTTARAKHAND HIGH COURT] Proceeding on the admitted facts, it accepted that the assessment had been made ex parte after portal-based notice and without granting the hearing contemplated under Section 75(4). On that basis, the impugned assessment order and consequential recovery were quashed, while preserving liberty to the department to continue the proceedings afresh in accordance with law after obtaining the petitioner's reply and granting personal hearing. [Paras 7, 8, 9] The impugned assessment order and recovery citation were quashed, and the matter was left open for fresh adjudication after reply to the show-cause notice and due opportunity of personal hearing. Final Conclusion: The writ petition was disposed of by quashing the ex parte assessment order and the consequential recovery proceedings. The petitioner was permitted to respond to the show-cause notice, and the department was left free to pass a fresh order in accordance with law after granting personal hearing. Issues: (i) whether the assessment and recovery proceedings were vitiated for want of valid service of notice when the petitioner's GST registration had been cancelled; and (ii) whether the ex parte assessment order could stand in the absence of opportunity of personal hearing under the GST law.Issue (i): whether the assessment and recovery proceedings were vitiated for want of valid service of notice when the petitioner's GST registration had been cancelled.Analysis: Service by merely uploading notices on the GST portal was held insufficient in the facts of the case, since the petitioner was no longer required to monitor the portal after cancellation of registration. Valid service under the GST framework requires effective communication of notice through a permissible mode that actually informs the assessee. The record showed that the proceedings were taken ex parte without proper service.Conclusion: The service of notice was held invalid and the ex parte proceedings were unsustainable.Issue (ii): whether the ex parte assessment order could stand in the absence of opportunity of personal hearing under the GST law.Analysis: The statutory mandate of personal hearing applies where an adverse order is contemplated, and it embodies the rule of audi alteram partem. Since the petitioner was not afforded an effective opportunity of hearing before the adverse assessment, the order suffered from breach of natural justice.Conclusion: The assessment order could not be sustained for want of opportunity of personal hearing.Final Conclusion: The assessment order and recovery proceedings were quashed, and the department was left free to proceed afresh after notice and hearing in accordance with law.Ratio Decidendi: In GST adjudication, an ex parte order based only on portal-based notice to a person whose registration has been cancelled, without effective service and personal hearing where an adverse decision is contemplated, is vitiated for breach of natural justice.