The Madras High Court ruled that the GST Department must acknowledge the answer to a show cause notice despite the same would be sent via taxpayer not through the portal but via the post.
During refusing the objection of the council, the postal or physical answer to them would not be acknowledged, the single bench of Justice M. Nirmal Kumar rendered that the department to provide the chance for the personal hearing to the applicant, hear the objections, peruse the documents submitted and the elaborations.
The applicant, show cause notice was provided to the applicant for cancelling the false refund claim. A reply has been furnished by the applicant that was received via the respondent. The same can be seen via monitoring the postal department along with the letter via the postal department. The applicant had obtained the adjudication order issued via the respondent in which the same has been mentioned that as a portion of the principles of the natural justice, a personal hearing has been proposed to the applicant and the adjudication order was issued as no one gets present.
The applicant had sent a hard copy of the reply to the show cause notice, which was not regarded. As per Section 75(4) of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017, the same shall be ruled that “an opportunity of hearing shall be granted where a request is received in writing from the person chargeable with tax or penalty, or where any adverse decision is contemplated against the such person”. When the adjudication GST officer at the finish of the adjudication has decided to levy the penalty or any penalty levied against the taxpayer, naturally, a chance would be provided. But the applicant was not provided with the chance. The applicant, the personal hearing notice was not provided to the portal register of the respondents exceeding the 30 days duration i.e on 8th January 2022 by the postal.
The council, under section 169, the situation beneath which the notice has been served would be mentioned in which one of the modes is email. The information of the personal hearing has been posted on the portal via sending the communication to the email address furnished during the registration time of the taxpayer or dealers along with that via creating the information available on the common portal. Similar that the notices have been provided via email.
The petitioner produced a screenshot of the details available in the portal on 20.08.2022 wherein it shows a show cause notice under Section 73 and 74 and GST DRC-01 was initiated and issued on 30.11.2021 and the due date to reply is on 30.12.2021, verifying the denial of personal hearing information.
The court said that the mere objection of the department would be that the postal or physical answer was not being acknowledged as the same would not be furnished via a portal. The applicant should have a personal hearing so that his objection could be heard.
The court rendered that the respondent must set the personal hearing date for the applicant and provide him with the chance to obtain any documents if yielded and post to that proceed with the show cause notices.
| Case Title | Asia (Chennai) Engineering Company Private Limited Versus The Assistant Commissioner (ST) (FAC) |
| Citation | W.P.(MD).Nos.13851 and 13870 of 2022 |
| Counsel For Appellant | Mr N.Murali |
| Counsel For Respondent | Mr P.Subbaraj, Special Government Pleader |
| Madras High Court | Read Order |
