Ex Parte GST Order Challenged: Allahabad HC Grants Opportunity for Defense Submission [Read Order]

In a recent ruling, the Allahabad High Court provided relief to a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) by granting an opportunity to contest an ex parte Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) order.

The petitioner, Om Traders, engaged in the manufacture and sale of goods claimed to be exempt under the GST Act, 2017, challenged an appellate order that upheld the tax liability imposed by the assessing officer without prior notice.

The petitioner argued that the show cause notice ( SCN ) under Section 73 of the GST Act was neither physically served nor made available on the GST portal under the “view notices and orders” tab.

The petitioner became aware of the proceedings only after the ex parte order was uploaded. Subsequently, an appeal was filed, but it was dismissed as time-barred.  It relied on precedents such as Ola Fleet Technologies Pvt. Ltd. v. State of U.P..

The division bench in the Ola Fleet case held that taxpayers must be given an opportunity to present their defense, particularly when procedural errors occur in serving notices. Similar views were reiterated in subsequent cases like Shyam Roshan Transport v. State of U.P. and Atul Agrawal v. State of U.P.

Justice Ajit Kumar, J noted the legislative intent behind the notice provisions, observing that no individual should be condemned unheard. The Court referred to a recent ruling in M/s Akriti Food Industry LLP v. State of U.P., where an identical ex parte order was set aside.

The High Court directed that the impugned order be treated as a notice under Section 73 of the GST Act, allowing the petitioner to submit objections and supporting documents within eight weeks. The assessing officer was instructed to reconsider the matter, provide a hearing, and issue a fresh decision within four weeks thereafter.

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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