The Madras High Court observed that the Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) payer has the right to be heard even after forgetting to request for personal hearing on the GST portal.
A Single bench of Justice Senthil Kumar Ramamoorthy stated that “Although the petitioner was unable to check the box pertaining to personal hearing while uploading such reply on the GST portal, the statutory obligation would not stand waived on that account.”
The petitioner Sathya Furniture registered under GST laws faced scrutiny for discrepancies between their GSTR 1 and GSTR 3B returns for the assessment period 2017-18. After responding to a show cause notice dated 25.09.2023 and requesting a personal hearing, the petitioner’s concerns were seemingly overlooked in the issuance of the impugned order.
The Counsel for the petitioner highlighted the failure to provide the requested personal hearing and asserted that crucial aspects, such as closing stock and capital goods values, were disregarded in the order.
Mr. V. Prashanth Kiran, representing the government, acknowledges receipt of notice and points to the confirmation of tax demand due to the petitioner’s alleged failure to provide supporting documents.
The court noted that Subsection (4) of Section 75 of the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, mandates the provision of a personal hearing upon request or when an adverse order is proposed. Despite the petitioner’s explicit request in their reply dated 25.11.2023, the hearing was not granted. The court emphasised that the statutory obligation cannot be waived merely due to a technicality in the filing process.
Consequently, the court ordered the quashing of the order dated 29.12.2023 and remanded the matter for reconsideration. The petitioner is granted fifteen days to submit all relevant documents, after which the respondent must provide a reasonable opportunity for a personal hearing and issue a fresh order within two months.
Accordingly the writ petitions were disposed of.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
