Document Identification Number defect in GST assessment order led to setting aside, remand, and conditional delayed challenge relief.

An assessment order issued without a Document Identification Number was treated as suffering from a patent irregularity and was set aside in writ jurisdiction. The Court also considered service by uploading the order on the GST portal under Section 169(1)(d) of the CGST Act, noting practical access difficulties for registered persons and indicating that a delayed writ challenge may be entertained on a 20% deposit of the disputed tax. The matter was remanded for fresh assessment after due opportunity of hearing, the period from filing of the writ petition until receipt of the order by the Assessing Officer was excluded for limitation purposes, and all contentions before the Assessing Officer were preserved.

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Issues: (i) Whether an assessment order issued without a Document Identification Number could be sustained. (ii) Whether uploading the order on the GST portal constituted sufficient service and whether delayed challenge to such order could be entertained subject to a deposit condition.

Issue (i): Whether an assessment order issued without a Document Identification Number could be sustained.

Analysis: The order was found to suffer from an inherent defect on account of the absence of a Document Identification Number. The deficiency was treated as a patent irregularity warranting interference in writ jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The assessment order could not be sustained and was set aside.

Issue (ii): Whether uploading the order on the GST portal constituted sufficient service and whether delayed challenge to such order could be entertained subject to a deposit condition.

Analysis: Service by portal upload under Section 169(1)(d) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 was pressed into service by the Revenue, while the Court noticed the practical difficulties faced by registered persons in accessing the portal. Balancing those difficulties against the need for tax administration, the Court indicated that delayed writ petitions in such situations may be considered on the condition of a 20% deposit of the disputed tax. It also directed exclusion of the period from filing of the writ petition till receipt of the order by the Assessing Officer for limitation purposes and preserved all issues before the Assessing Officer.

Conclusion: The challenge was entertained and the matter was remanded for fresh assessment after due opportunity of hearing, subject to deposit of 20% of the disputed tax.

Final Conclusion: The assessment was annulled for want of a DIN and the matter was sent back for reconsideration, with a conditional deposit requirement and liberty to raise all contentions before the Assessing Officer.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessment order lacking a required Document Identification Number is liable to be set aside, and in cases involving service through the GST portal, equitable consideration of delay may be coupled with a conditional deposit and remand for fresh adjudication.

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