The Orissa High Court recently criticised the automatic rejection by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities of a rectification application submitted by Jindal Steel. This application addressed a noted discrepancy between the tax amounts reported in GSTR-3B and the E-way Bill on the portal.
Jindal Steel is a recognised entity in the Indian iron and non-alloy steel industry, and has submitted its annual returns in Form GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C for FY 2020-21.
The returns were analysed after the related officer observed a variance between the turnover declared in GSTR-3B and that which appeared on the e-way bill portal.
On November 13, 2023, Jindal Steel received a notice in Form GST ASMT-10, issued under Rule 99 of the CGST/OGST Rules, 2017. The notice addresses a discrepancy concerning the reporting of taxable supplies, which includes zero-rated supplies, by Jindal. This action indicates concerns regarding potential under-reporting of their taxable transactions.
The Department claimed to have uploaded a notice on the GST portal; however, Jindal Steel argued that they did not receive it directly. Jindal Steel noted that the communications became visible to them only later under the “Additional Notices/Orders” tab on the portal.
Even after the same, the officer moved to pass an ex parte order on 6 January 2025 u/s 73 of the GST Act, raising a demand of ₹8,62,80,720, as the differential demand originating from the shortfall between the tax payable as per GSTR-3B and the tax payable as per E-Way Bill data.
Thereafter, Jindal Steels proceeded with an application u/s 161 of the GST Act, asking for the rectification of what it mentioned as a factual error; but it was denied vide an order on 20 June 2025, leading to this present petition before the High Court.
The representative of Jindal Steels, Rudra Prasad Kar, presented that the initial order was passed by the Officer without providing the applicant a chance of hearing, and it was never given to the applicant.
The applicant had filed the rectification application, including the reconciliation of the figures, yet the State Tax Officer denied it by a laconic and terse order, devoid of any reason for rejection.
It was mentioned that the mismatch was because of the fact that e-way bill data consists of all the movements of goods along with those to the applicant’s own units, which are not supplies as per GSTR-3B.
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Revenue’s standing counsel Sunil Mishra said that the writ petition was not maintainable as there is another remedy of appeal. He said that the applicant was not alerted as the notice was uploaded earlier on the portal, and that in such an instance, no fault can be attributed to the proper officer.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Murahari Sri Raman stated that the order of rectification dated 20.06.2025 passed u/s 161 of the GST Act was passed without assigning any cause and without providing any chance of hearing.
The court, regarding the same, referred to the judgment in Assistant Commissioner, Commercial Tax Vrs. Shukla & Brothers (2010), where it was repeated that assigning reasons in every order was a cardinal principle.
The court mentioned that the authority had been unable to acknowledge the records and documents provided by the applicant to support the reconciliation of the numbers between GSTR-3B and the E-Way Bill data.
The HC in these cases remanded the case to the state tax officer with the direction that the rectification application be disposed of on a proper basis, post acknowledging the supporting documents/records available on the portal, as was said to have been uploaded by the applicant.
Within 15 working days, the order was to be delivered and pass an appropriate reasoned order correcting the initial ex parte order on 06.01.2025, if need be, as per Section 161 of the GST Act.
| Applicant Name | Jindal Steel Limited vs Commissioner Commercial Taxes and Goods and Service Tax |
| Case Number | W.P.(C) No.25955 of 2025 |
| For the Petitioner | Mr Rudra Prasad Kar |
| For the Opposite Parties | Mr. Sunil Mishra |
| Orissa High Court | Read Order |
