Portal-only service after GST registration cancellation was held insufficient, with proceedings allowed to continue from show cause notice stage.

Portal-only upload of assessment orders and show cause notices after cancellation of registration was treated as insufficient service, because alternative modes of service under Section 169 of the Uttarakhand GST Act were required; the challenged proceedings were interfered with to that extent. The competent authority was nevertheless permitted to continue the matter from the stage of show cause notice, leaving the proceedings open to be taken forward from that point.

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Issues: Whether the assessment orders and show cause notices were liable to be interfered with on the ground that service was effected only by uploading them on the GST portal after cancellation of registration, and whether the competent authority could be permitted to proceed from the stage of show cause notice.

Analysis: The writ petitions were disposed of in terms of the earlier coordinate bench decision which had treated portal-only upload, after cancellation of registration, as insufficient service and required recourse to the alternative modes contemplated under Section 169 of the Uttarakhand GST Act. At the same time, the State's request to permit continuation of proceedings from the stage of show cause notice was accepted.

Conclusion: The challenged proceedings were interfered with to the extent covered by the earlier judgment, and the competent authority was left at liberty to proceed from the stage of show cause notice.

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