Search-based GST demands need no prior return scrutiny, while suppression and tax quantification require statutory adjudication.
GST demand proceedings founded on search and investigation need not be preceded by return scrutiny under Section 61 or FORM GST ASMT-10, which apply where discrepancies arise from scrutiny of returns. Search authorisation requires pre-existing reasons to believe; the existence of FORM GST INS-01 alone is insufficient, while non-supply of recorded reasons does not prove their absence. A single notice may cover multiple financial years under the respective demand provisions, provided liability, limitation and statutory conditions are assessed year-wise. Multiple penalty provisions may be invoked, but the same act or omission cannot attract double penalty. Disputed suppression, fraud and tax quantification require adjudicatory factual examination.
Issues: (i) Whether the search authorization and consequential proceedings were invalid for want of reasons to believe or a Document Identification Number; (ii) Whether scrutiny under Section 61 and issuance of FORM GST ASMT-10 were mandatory before initiation of demand proceedings founded on search and investigation; (iii) Whether a consolidated show-cause notice invoking Sections 74 and 74A for different financial years was without jurisdiction; (iv) Whether the proposal of penalties under Sections 74/74A and 122 in the same notice violated Section 75(13); (v) Whether the allegations of suppression, fraud or wilful misstatement and quantification of demand warranted interference in writ jurisdiction.
Issue (i): Whether the search authorization and consequential proceedings were invalid for want of reasons to believe or a Document Identification Number.
Analysis: Section 67(2) requires the competent officer to have formed reasons to believe before issuing written search authorization in FORM GST INS-01 under Rule 139(1). Existence of INS-01 does not itself establish fulfilment of that condition, but non-supply of recorded reasons to the taxable person does not establish their absence. The adjudicating authority must verify the original authorization and contemporaneous departmental record to determine whether the requisite belief existed before authorization. The applicability of the DIN circulars, any permissible exception, and regularization are factual matters requiring verification of records.
Conclusion: The search authorization and consequential proceedings were not liable to be quashed at this stage; the issues concerning contemporaneous reasons and DIN are to be determined in adjudication. Against the assessee.
Issue (ii): Whether scrutiny under Section 61 and issuance of FORM GST ASMT-10 were mandatory before initiation of demand proceedings founded on search and investigation.
Analysis: Section 61 and Rule 99 govern discrepancies detected on scrutiny of returns. That procedure is mandatory where a demand rests on such scrutiny, but is not an indispensable preliminary stage for every investigation. The proposed demand was founded on search, records allegedly found during investigation, software entries, slip pads, statements and third-party information, rather than on return scrutiny alone.
Conclusion: Absence of proceedings under Section 61 and FORM GST ASMT-10 did not invalidate the notice where the demand was founded on search and investigation. Against the assessee.
Issue (iii): Whether a consolidated show-cause notice invoking Sections 74 and 74A for different financial years was without jurisdiction.
Analysis: No statutory prohibition prevents a consolidated notice covering multiple financial years. Nevertheless, liability must be determined separately for each year under the provision applicable to that year, with independent consideration of limitation and the statutory ingredients for invoking Sections 74 and 74A.
Conclusion: The consolidated notice was not without jurisdiction merely because it covered different financial years and invoked Sections 74 and 74A. Against the assessee.
Issue (iv): Whether the proposal of penalties under Sections 74/74A and 122 in the same notice violated Section 75(13).
Analysis: Section 75(13) prohibits more than one penalty on the same person for the same act or omission; it does not prohibit reference to Sections 74/74A and 122 in a single show-cause notice. The adjudicating authority must ensure that the same act or omission is not subjected to double penalty.
Conclusion: The combined proposal of penalties did not invalidate the proceedings at the notice stage. Against the assessee.
Issue (v): Whether the allegations of suppression, fraud or wilful misstatement and quantification of demand warranted interference in writ jurisdiction.
Analysis: The notice contained quantified allegations of undisclosed taxable supplies based on business records, software entries, slip pads, statements and third-party information. Whether those materials establish suppression, fraud or wilful misstatement, and whether the turnover and tax quantification are correct, require factual appraisal, reconciliation and consideration of the payment made through DRC-03. Such matters fall within statutory adjudication unless the notice is wholly without jurisdiction or suffers from a patent legal infirmity.
Conclusion: The factual allegations and quantification did not warrant writ interference and must be resolved by the adjudicating authority. Against the assessee.
Final Conclusion: The notice and search-related action remain subject to statutory adjudication, with separate year-wise application of the relevant demand provisions and an opportunity to raise factual and legal objections before the adjudicating authority.
Ratio Decidendi: A GST demand notice founded on search and investigation is not invalid merely because prior return scrutiny was not undertaken, and disputed factual allegations of suppression and quantification ordinarily require statutory adjudication rather than writ determination.