The Allahabad High Court has ruled that when a taxpayer’s GST registration has already been cancelled, the GST department must serve the adjudication notice through a physical mode of communication.
The Court observed that merely uploading the notice on the common GST portal is insufficient, as it deprives the taxpayer of a reasonable opportunity to respond and violates the principles of natural justice.
Laxmi Electricals and Construction Company submitted a writ petition contesting the adjudication order on 20 August 2024. The order emerges from an SCN dated 31 May 2024.
The GST registration of the applicant had been cancelled by an order dated 1 June 2023. Post cancellation of registration, the Show Cause Notice (SCN) was issued to the applicant via electronic mode by uploading it on the common portal.
The applicant contested the adjudication order because the order suffered from patent illegality and resulted in the refusal of the chance to object and to be heard in the adjudication proceedings.
The court referred to the position recorded in Bambino Agro Industries Ltd. v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Another, where it had been cited that in cases where GST registration has been cancelled, such persons should be proceeded against in adjudication proceedings only after service of physical notice.
The Court said that after cancellation of the registration, the registered person is disabled from working on the common portal. It said that the same person is also relieved from the liability to validate the common portal.
The Division Bench, Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Arun Kumar, said that any adjudication notice issued after cancellation of registration should be served through physical mode in terms of Section 169(1)(a) and Section 169(1)(b) of the U.P. GST Act, 2017.
The Court: The applicant did not get any physical notice. It said that the norms of natural justice had been breached as the applicant was prevented from filing any objection or response to the SCN.
The Court said that u/s 75(4) of the U.P. GST Act, the applicant has the right to be heard. The court determined that there was no benefit in keeping the writ petition pending or requesting a counter affidavit at that time.
The court annulled the adjudication order dated August 20, 2024, and sent the matter back to the authority to issue a new order in compliance with the law.
Additionally, the court instructed the authority to send a fresh notice to the petitioner through physical delivery, including copies of the documents relied upon, within ten days.
| Case Title | M/S Laxmi Electricals And Construction Company vs. State of U.P. |
| Case No. | WRIT TAX No. – 2799 of 2026 |
| For Petitioner | Vedika Nath, Yashonidhi Shukla |
| For Respondent | C.S.C. |
| Allahabad High Court | Read Order |
