The petitioner, Anil Kumar, the proprietor of N.S. Super Mart contested a Show Cause Notice (SCN) on December 15, 2023. Subsequently, an order-in-original was issued on April 3, 2024, under the Delhi GST law.
The GST SCN proposed a tax demand of ₹10.91 lakh, citing alleged excess Input Tax Credit (ITC) due to discrepancies between GSTR-2A and GSTR-3B, failure to reverse ITC concerning exempt supplies, and ITC claimed from dealers whose registrations had been cancelled.
Under the “Additional Notices and Orders” tab on the GST portal, the notice as well as the reminders were uploaded. The applicant was clueless about the same mode of uploading, which results in a lack of awareness of the proceedings. Therefore, no response was submitted, and the order was passed ex parte based on non-prosecution, without granting any personal hearing.
The issue at hand is whether a notice uploaded on the GST portal, but only found in the “Additional Notices” section and not properly communicated to the taxpayer, can be used as a reason for making a decision without the taxpayer’s input. This decision could lead to an increase in tax charges.
High Court citation: HC held that the only uploading of a SCN and reminders under the “Additional Notices” tab, when the tab itself was not functioning or accessible to the applicant, did not direct to appropriate or effective service. The Court, relying on its earlier Division Bench decision in Neelgiri Machinery v. Commissioner, Delhi GST and Etemad Cargo, discovered that the applicant was refused a significant chance of hearing.
Read Also: How to Effortlessly Check the Validity of GST SCN & Orders
Therefore, the impugned order on 03.04.2024 was quashed. The case was remanded to the tax authority with directions to allow the applicant to submit a response within 4 weeks, grant a personal hearing on the mentioned date, and, after that, pass a reasoned order within 3 months.
| Case Title | Anil Kumar vs. Sales Tax Officer |
| Case No. | W.P.(C) 843/2026 & CM APPL. 4124/2026 |
| For Petitioner | Ms Priyanka Rathi and Mr Ashwini Chandrasekaran, Advs. |
| Delhi High Court | Read Order |
