https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783598 Summons issued under s.70 CGST Act were challenged as violating departmental guidelines, including absence of the department's seal. The HC held that s.70 empowers the proper officer to summon any person to give evidence or produce documents in an inquiry, akin to civil court powers, and such inquiry is deemed "judicial proceedings" for IPC purposes. Since a s.70 summons is principally an information-gathering measure affording an opportunity to furnish documents, it does not amount to initiation of proceedings against the noticee, and objections based on parallel proceedings or internal guidelines do not vitiate the summons at this stage. The writ petitions were held premature and were dismissed. en-us Tue, 16 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 18 Dec 2025 08:02:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783598 Summons issued under s.70 CGST Act were challenged as violating departmental guidelines, including absence of the department's seal. The HC held that s.70 empowers the proper officer to summon any person to give evidence or produce documents in an inquiry, akin to civil court powers, and such inquiry is deemed "judicial proceedings" for IPC purposes. Since a s.70 summons is principally an information-gathering measure affording an opportunity to furnish documents, it does not amount to initiation of proceedings against the noticee, and objections based on parallel proceedings or internal guidelines do not vitiate the summons at this stage. The writ petitions were held premature and were dismissed. Case-Laws GST Tue, 16 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783598