TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (7) TMI 54
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.... September, 2023; ii. Order dated 25th December, 2023 passed by the office of Sales Tax Officer Class II/ AVATO, Delhi (hereinafter, 'the impugned order'); iii. Notification No. 09/2023-Central Tax dated 31st March, 2023 (hereinafter, 'the impugned notifications') 3. The validity of the impugned notifications was under consideration before this Court in a batch of petitions with the lead petition being W.P.(C) 16499/2023 titled 'DJST Traders Pvt. Ltd. vs. Union of India and Ors.'. In the said batch of petitions, on 22nd April, 2025, the parties were heard at length qua the validity of the impugned notification and accordingly, the following order was passed: "4. Submissions have been heard in part. The broad challenge to both sets of Notifications is on the ground that the proper procedure was not followed prior to the issuance of the same. In terms of Section 168A, prior recommendation of the GST Council is essential for extending deadlines. In respect of Notification no.9, the recommendation was made prior to the issuance of the same. However, insofar as Notification No. 56/2023 (Central Tax) the challenge is that the extension was granted contrary t....
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....r. 7. Dr. Muralidhar pointed out that there is a cleavage of opinion amongst different High Courts of the country. 8. Issue notice on the SLP as also on the prayer for interim relief, returnable on 7-3- 2025." 7. In the meantime, the challenges were also pending before the Bombay High Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In the Punjab and Haryana High Court vide order dated 12th March, 2025, all the writ petitions have been disposed of in terms of the interim orders passed therein. The operative portion of the said order reads as under: "65. Almost all the issues, which have been raised before us in these present connected cases and have been noticed herein above, are the subject matter of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the aforesaid SLP. 66. Keeping in view the judicial discipline, we refrain from giving our opinion with respect to the vires of Section 168-A of the Act as well as the notifications issued in purported exercise of power under Section 168-A of the Act which have been challenged, and we direct that all these present connected cases shall be governed by the judgment passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and the decision t....
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....hall be subject to the outcome of the proceedings before the Supreme Court in S.L.P. No. 4240/2025 titled M/s HCC-SEW-MEIL-AAG JV v. Assistant Commissioner of State Tax & Ors. 5. However, in cases where the challenge is to the parallel State Notifications, the same have been retained for consideration by this Court. The lead matter in the said batch is W.P.(C) 9214/2024 titled Engineers India Limited v. Union of India &Ors. 6. In the present petitions, the submission of ld. Counsel for the Petitioner, on facts is that the show cause notices dated 1st December, 2023 and 25th September, 2023 from which the impugned orders arise, were uploaded on the 'Additional Notices Tab'. Therefore, the same were not brought to the knowledge of the Petitioner due to which no reply was filed. Hence, the impugned orders were passed without providing the Petitioner with an opportunity to challenge the case on merits. 7. The Court has heard the parties. In fact, this Court in W.P.(C) 13727/2024 titled 'Neelgiri Machinery through its Proprietor Mr. Anil Kumar V. Commissioner Delhi Goods And Service Tax And Others', under similar circumstances where the show cause notice was uploaded on the 'Ad....
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....fter affording the petitioner an opportunity to be heard. 10. The present petition is disposed of in the aforesaid terms. 11. All pending applications are also disposed of." 7. The impugned demand orders dated 23rd April, 2024 and 5th December, 2023 are accordingly set aside. In response to show cause notices dated 04th December, 2023 and 23th September, 2023, the Petitioner shall file its replies within thirty days. The hearing notices shall now not be merely uploaded on the portal but shall also be e- mailed to the Petitioner and upon the hearing notice being received, the Petitioner would appear before the Department and make its submissions. The show cause notices shall be adjudicated in accordance with law. 8. The petitions are disposed of in the above terms. The pending application(s), if any, also stand disposed of." 8. There is no doubt that after 16th January 2024, changes have been made to the GST portal and the 'Additional Notices Tab' has been made visible. However, in the present case, the show cause notices were issued on 1st December, 2023 and 25th September, 2023 and the same were not brought to the notice of the Petitioner. Under such circumstances, ....