The Punjab and Haryana High Court, in a recent ruling, held that a GST demand raised by the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, for an advertisement fee cannot be sustained without granting the affected party an opportunity of hearing.
A writ petition has been submitted by the CSJ Infrastructure Private Limited, contesting a demand notice issued by the Chief Administrator-cum-Commissioner which informed to deposit a sum of Rs. 2,12,00,245 towards advertisement fee, penalty, interest and GST for the period from 1 July 2025 to 15 August 2025, during which advertisements were allegedly shown within the enclosed commercial mall premises owned by the applicant.
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The counsel of the applicant mentioned that the demand notice had been furnished without any prior notice or chance of hearing. They stated that the action of the respondent authorities was in breach of the norms of natural justice because the applicant was never informed of the notice nor provided an opportunity to elaborate or challenge the alleged obligation before the same financial demand was raised.
Senior counsel for the Municipal Corporation in the hearing cited that the respondent authorities were desired to provide the applicant a chance of hearing before passing any final order.
The counsel mentioned that the demand notice can be considered as a GST Show Cause Notice (SCN) to which the applicant shall be qualified to furnish a formal response. The respondents ensured the court that the competent authority shall determine the case within the law in 4 weeks post-hearing all the related parties, and shall pass a reasoned speaking order.
Justice Harsh Bunger said that for the statement made via the respondents considering to comply with the due process, no additional orders needed to be passed via the court at that phase. The court mentioned that the raised grievance by the applicant had been addressed satisfactorily after the respondent authorities had considered deeming the impugned demand as an SCN and providing a chance of hearing.
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The writ petition has been disposed of by the court by asking that the demand notice be deemed only as an SCN. The competent authority was asked to determine the case in 4 weeks by passing a speaking order post, providing a chance of hearing to all parties. All due applications were closed.
| Case Title | CSJ Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh |
| Case No. | CM-215-CWP-2026 in/and CWP-30519-2025 |
| For the Petitioner | Aditya Grover |
| For the Respondents | Amit Jhanji, Shashank Shekhar Sharma |
| Punjab and Haryana High Court | Read Order |