The Madras High Court recently mandated a 25% pre-deposit from ECL for reconsideration after the petitioner failed to address show cause notices under the Goods and Services Tax ( GST ).
The petitioner challenged the impugned order dated October 14, 2023, issued for the assessment year 2017-18, which confirmed demands proposed in show cause notices DRC 01A dated April 6, 2022, and DRC 01 dated July 20, 2023.
It was submitted that their accountant neglected to inform them about these notices and the subsequent impugned orders, only becoming aware when the department insisted on payment.
The respondent’s Government Advocate countered, arguing that the writ petition was barred by time and should be dismissed based on precedents from the Supreme Court in Assistant Commissioner (CT) LTU, Kakinada v. Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Health Care Limited and Singh Enterprises v. Commissioner of Central Excise, Jamshedpur, citing delays in both the petition and the appellate remedy.
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The bench of Justice Krishnan Ramamsamy granted the petitioner an opportunity to address the grievance by ordering a 25% deposit of the disputed tax from the Electronic Cash Ledger within 30 days of receiving the order copy. The impugned order was quashed and the case remanded for a fresh order.
The court instructed that the impugned GST order to serve as an addendum to the previous show cause notices, and the petitioner must file a consolidated reply within 30 days. The respondent was directed to issue a final order within three months of receiving the reply. Should the petitioner fail to comply with these directives, the respondent may proceed as if the writ petition had been dismissed.
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