Early-hearing applications concerned GST appeals involving claimed statutory refunds denied by Revenue. The applicants asserted that the refund denials lacked legal basis. The applications were considered to establish grounds for expedited listing, and were granted. The connected appeals were directed to be listed together for hearing after three weeks.

Section 129(6) requires detained goods to be sold or otherwise disposed of to recover an unpaid penalty after the prescribed payment period. That period may be shortened where goods are perishable, hazardous or susceptible to depreciation. Inflammable bulk bitumen qualifies as hazardous goods, requiring prompt initiation of sale proceedings. Public notice must be issued and notice served on the goods' owner within the stipulated period, enabling the owner to pursue the available appellate remedy.

Condonation of delay in a statutory GST appeal was considered where filing occurred 163 days after the order-in-original, including 43 days beyond the ordinarily condonable period under section 107(4). Pending rectification proceedings, family circumstances, the disputed levy, and the need for factual adjudication supported condonation. The appeal was restored for merits adjudication, with all substantive contentions left open.

Effective service of a show cause notice under Section 74 requires more than uploading it on the common portal. Where receipt is not acknowledged and no reply is filed, portal upload alone does not provide the assessee an effective opportunity to respond and be heard. An ex parte adjudication based solely on such upload cannot be sustained. The proceedings require consequential restoration so that the assessee receives the opportunity contemplated by the applicable service principle.

GST is not chargeable on compensation for compulsory acquisition of land and structures because GST applies to supplies of goods or services, while land and buildings attached to land are immovable property. Statutory acquisition under eminent domain is an involuntary expropriation, not a voluntary supply by the landowner or a rendering of services. In the absence of a statutory basis for treating acquisition compensation as consideration for a taxable supply, deduction of GST from that compensation lacks legal authority. The deducted GST must be refunded with interest and costs.

Statutory appellate remedy was permitted despite limitation where the petitioner undertook to clear unpaid tax and interest and make the prescribed penalty deposit. Upon compliance with those payment requirements and filing of the appeal, the appeal must be considered on merits without reference to limitation. The writ petition was disposed of on those terms.

The impugned tax order and rejection of a belated rectification application were set aside for fresh adjudication. Fresh consideration was made conditional on the petitioner depositing the stipulated tax amount and filing a reply to the show-cause notice. The matter therefore returned to the adjudicating authority for reconsideration after compliance with those conditions.

Omission of Rule 96(10) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 without a savings clause operates retrospectively, including for pending refund-recovery proceedings. The omitted rule cannot support continuing recovery action merely because proceedings were initiated before its omission. Pending refund-recovery matters require reconsideration on the basis that Rule 96(10) has ceased to apply.

Prima facie recording of the disputed CGST dues as discharged in the GSTR-3B return, together with filing of the waiver application within the prescribed period, required fresh consideration after giving the applicant a reasonable opportunity of being heard. The rejection of the waiver application was set aside, and the matter was remanded for reconsideration within two months.

Service of a GST show cause notice solely through the portal after cancellation of registration is inadequate because the taxpayer is not obliged to regularly access that portal. Alternative service is required to provide an effective opportunity to respond. Assessment proceedings founded on portal-only service in those circumstances breach the principles of natural justice. The assessment order was quashed, while the department retained liberty to issue proper notice and initiate fresh proceedings in accordance with law.

Section 29 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 permits cancellation of GST registration only where specified statutory grounds exist. The proper officer must independently form satisfaction on cogent, tangible material establishing those grounds. Nil turnover reported in GSTR-3B returns, without verifying evidence of continuing business activity from the registered premises, does not by itself establish discontinuance of business. Cancellation and rejection of revocation cannot rest solely on nil returns or non-response to a subsequent show-cause notice where the statutory basis remains unverified.

GST valuation demands must rest on the valuation rule specified in the show cause notice, unless the assessee receives notice and a meaningful opportunity to respond to any changed basis. Where Rule 28(1)(a) was invoked for valuing excavated soil but found inapplicable, substitution of Rule 27(c) at adjudication adopted a distinct valuation basis without such opportunity. This caused prejudice and breached the requirements of a valid show cause notice and principles of natural justice. Consequently, the demand could not be sustained on the substituted Rule 27(c) basis.

A penalty under Section 122(1A) cannot be imposed on a noticee unless the show-cause notice specifically proposes that penalty against that person. Where the notice proposed penalties under Section 122(1) against the noticee but proposed the separate Section 122(1A) penalty against its handler or operator, imposing Section 122(1A) on the noticee conflates penalties intended for distinct persons. Such a penalty is unsustainable because the noticee was not put on notice of the proposed liability.

Availability of statutory remedies for cancellation of GST registration may render a writ challenge non-maintainable. Where an adjudication order under Section 74-A preceded the writ petition, the available remedies comprised revocation of cancellation under Rule 86-A(2) and a statutory appeal under Section 107. The writ petition was disposed of with liberty to pursue those remedies within the stipulated period, and timely applications or appeals were to be considered on merits without limitation objections.

Mandatory carriage of an e-way bill for movement of goods is central to GST enforcement. Absence of the bill may create a rebuttable presumption of intent to evade tax, which the owner or transporter may contest through supporting material. Subsequent production of an e-way bill does not by itself remove exposure to detention and penalty. Misclassification of goods and a resulting tax-rate disparity may also indicate evasion. Detention and penalty proceedings require service of notice and an opportunity of hearing.

Penalty under section 122(1A) of the CGST Act must be imposed consistently with the person identified in the show-cause notice. Specified penalties were proposed against the petitioner, while the separate section 122(1A) penalty was proposed against its handler/operator; nevertheless, both penalties were imposed on the petitioner. As this mixing of proposed penalties was not specifically controverted, the penalty order was quashed and remanded for fresh adjudication after hearing the petitioner, with other issues left open.

GST valuation proceedings require the show-cause notice to identify the valuation rule on which the proposed demand rests. Where a notice invokes Rule 28(a), but the adjudicating authority finds that rule inapplicable and instead confirms the demand under Rule 27(c), the taxpayer must receive notice and an opportunity to respond to that distinct basis. Substituting the valuation rule at adjudication causes prejudice and breaches natural justice. A fresh show-cause notice is required before proceedings may be pursued on the revised valuation basis.

Cancellation of GST registration under Section 29 requires the Proper Officer's independent satisfaction, based on cogent and tangible material, that a statutory ground for cancellation exists. Nil turnover declared in GSTR-3B returns alone does not establish discontinuance of business, especially where material indicates that business continued from the registered premises. A show-cause notice founded solely on nil turnover does not disclose a circumstance warranting cancellation. The cancellation and rejection of revocation were quashed, while the authority retained liberty to verify whether the business continued and proceed in accordance with law.

Service of a GST show-cause notice solely through the portal after cancellation of registration may deny the taxpayer a proper opportunity to respond. Once registration is cancelled, the taxpayer is not required to continue checking the GST portal; an alternative mode of service is required. An assessment founded only on such portal-based notice breaches principles of natural justice and was set aside. Fresh proceedings may be initiated upon proper notice, and any recovered amount remains subject to the final outcome of those proceedings.

Omission of Rule 96(10) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, without a savings clause was treated as applying to pending refund-recovery proceedings. Applying the Supreme Court pronouncement on the effect of such omission, the High Court set aside the refund-recovery orders and remanded the matters for fresh consideration under that principle. The merits of the refund-recovery claims were not decided.