Delegated Authority can Send Notice when It has ‘Reason to Believe’: Gujarat HC [Read Judgment]

Delegated Authority - Notice - Gujarat High Court - Taxscan

In the case of Nathalal Maganlal Chauhan vs. State of Gujarat, the Gujarat High Court laid down the dictum that delegated authority can exercise the power to send the notice when he has the ‘reason to believe’ for the purpose of exercising the power under Section 69 of the Gujarat Goods and Service Tax (GST) Act, 2017.

The applicant’s son is a proprietor at Lancer Enterprise. The applicant’s son has rented the factory premises including the machines of the Lancer Enterprise to Mr. Nipun Patel for the purpose of manufacturing articles of plastics on a job work basis. Further, the officers of the Commissioner of State Tax visited the residential premises and continuously enquired about the whereabouts of his son. This as a consequence disturbed his peace and harassed them. Hence the petitioner filed a writ of mandamus against those officials.

The issue raised was whether the writ of mandamus can be issued by the High Court of Gujarat or not?

The Division Bench comprising of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Bhargav D. Karia held that delegated authority can exercise the power to send the notice when he has the ‘reason to believe’ for the purpose of exercising the power under Section 69 of the Gujarat Goods and Service Tax(GST) Act, 2017.

The Court also of the view that the power under Section  69 of the Gujarat Goods and Service Tax (GST) Act, 2017can be exercised by the authority upon whom the power is delegated provided the delegatee has ‘reason to believe’ that the assessee has committed the offence under Section 132 of the Act.

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