Mandatory personal hearing under GST law cannot be waived by a form choice; adverse order quashed for natural justice breach.

The Gujarat HC held that an adverse GST adjudication order cannot be sustained where the authority fails to grant a personal hearing required under Section 75(4) of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The petitioner had replied to the show-cause notice, but no hearing was afforded before the order was passed; the authority could not rely on the petitioner's "No" selection in the reply form to defeat the statutory mandate. The denial of hearing was treated as a breach of natural justice, and the impugned order was quashed with a direction to decide the matter afresh after giving due opportunity of hearing.

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Issues: Whether the impugned adjudication order was liable to be quashed for breach of the mandatory requirement of granting personal hearing under Section 75(4) of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Analysis: The petitioner had replied to the show-cause notice, but no personal hearing was afforded before passing the adverse order. The authority relied on the petitioner's selection of "No" for personal hearing in the reply form, yet the statutory mandate under Section 75(4) required grant of a hearing opportunity before passing an adverse order. The statutory requirement could not be defeated by the form selection, and the denial of hearing amounted to breach of the principles of natural justice.

Conclusion: The impugned order was unsustainable and was quashed and set aside. The matter was remanded to the respondent authorities to pass a fresh order after granting due opportunity of hearing.

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