Personal hearing waiver under GST defeated natural justice challenge and preserved the statutory appellate remedy.

Under the CGST Act, a personal hearing under Section 75(4) was not treated as mandatory where the assessee had expressly indicated in the GST DRC-06 forms and objections that no hearing was required. The alleged breach of natural justice therefore failed, because the absence of a hearing resulted from the assessee's own conscious election rather than from any denial by the department. The existence of an effective statutory appellate remedy also remained intact, so the assessment order was not regarded as void and did not justify direct invocation of writ jurisdiction under Article 226. The challenge on denial of hearing was rejected, leaving the assessee to pursue the remedy available in law.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order was void for want of personal hearing despite the assessee having opted not to require one, and whether the assessee could directly invoke writ jurisdiction without first pursuing the statutory appellate remedy.

Analysis: The assessee's challenge was founded on the contention that Section 75(4) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 mandated a hearing before any adverse order. The record, however, showed that in the relevant GST DRC-06 forms and objections, the assessee specifically indicated that no personal hearing was required. In those circumstances, the asserted violation of natural justice could not be accepted, because the absence of a hearing was traceable to the assessee's own conscious election. The availability of a statutory remedy also remained unaffected, and the order could not be treated as void so as to justify direct intervention under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Conclusion: The challenge to the order on the ground of denial of hearing was rejected, and the assessee was left to pursue the statutory remedy available in law.

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