Delhi HC: Two Judgment Orders Against One SCN Cannot Be Accepted for the Same Period

It was cited by the Delhi HC that the two adjudication orders against one SCN for the same period have not been allowed.

The Division Bench of Justices Yashwant Varma and Ravinder Dudeja are concerned with the matter in which a show cause notice has been given to the taxpayer under section 74 of the CGST Act, 2017.

The same notice was duly adjudicated via the department, which consequences in an order. An appeal has been filed by the taxpayer against the same order which was due before the proper officer.

At the time of pendency of the petition, the department adjudicated the identical Show Cause Notice (SCN) once again and furnished the following order (dated 23.04.2024) based on the same allegations, within the same section, asking for the identical demand.

It was furnished by the taxpayer that both the order has the reference of the identical SCN which directed that the issuance of the second order on 23.04.2024 is just a double hazard.

The second order issuance on the identical SCN is just a gross misuse of power by the department as the order has been passed without the authority of law and any grounds or reasoning.

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As per the bench, “We take note of what prima facie appears to be an apparent mistake underlying the passing of the impugned order dated 23 April 2024, a decision which pertains to the tax period of July 2018 to March 2019……….However, notwithstanding those proceedings having culminated in the passing of a final order, the impugned order dated 23 April 2024 has come to be framed all over again about the same tax period and referring to the original Show Cause Notice dated 30 December 2020”

The opinion of the bench is that the second order is unsustainable. As per the aforesaid view, the bench permitted the petition and quashed the second order.