Statutory personal hearing under GST cannot be bypassed; adverse demand order quashed for breach of natural justice.

Under the Gujarat GST law, an adverse adjudication could not be sustained where the taxpayer was not given the statutory opportunity of personal hearing before the demand order was passed. The High Court held that the mandate of Section 75(4) could not be displaced by the reply form indicating no request for hearing, because the authority was still required to comply with the statutory hearing requirement and the principles of natural justice. The impugned GST order was therefore quashed, and the matter was remanded for fresh adjudication after granting a hearing to the taxpayer.

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Issues: Whether the impugned GST demand order could be sustained when the petitioner was not granted the statutory opportunity of personal hearing before adverse adjudication under the GST law.

Analysis: The order was challenged under Article 226 on the ground that, despite the petitioner filing a reply to the show-cause notice and disputing the proposed demand, the adjudicating authority proceeded to confirm the liability without following the mandate of Section 75(4) of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The statutory requirement of granting an opportunity of hearing before passing an adverse order could not be displaced by the petitioner's choice in the reply form indicating "No" to personal hearing. The failure to afford such hearing constituted a breach of the principles of natural justice and attracted interference in writ jurisdiction.

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

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute mandates an opportunity of hearing before adverse adjudication, non-grant of such hearing vitiates the order and warrants remand under writ jurisdiction.

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