Kerala HC quashes Assessment Order Passed without Affording Personal Hearing as u/s 75(4) of GST Act [Read Order]
Kerala- HC – Assessment- Order – Affording- Personal- Hearing- GST- Act-TAXSCAN
Kerala- HC – Assessment- Order – Affording- Personal- Hearing- GST- Act-TAXSCAN
A Single Bench of the Kerala High Court quashed an assessment order passed without affording personal hearing as under Section 75(4) of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Act, 2017.
The present writ petition has been filed by the petitioner, Julie Jose, who is the assessee under the provisions of the Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) and State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) challenging the assessment order made under Section 73 of the Kerala GST Act.
The only ground which has been urged in the writ petition is that the petitioner is not afforded with an opportunity of hearing as mandated under Section 75 of the GST Act. The Government Pleader fairly did not dispute the said contention of the Counsel for the petitioner.
The petitioner has requested for a personal hearing in the matter resulted from the impugned order itself. Despite the contention which is made by the petitioner for personal hearing, the assessment has been completed under Section 73 of the Kearla GST Act without affording an opportunity of personal hearing.
Section (4) of Section 75 of the GST Act provides as. “(4). An opportunity of hearing shall be granted where a request is received in writing from the person chargeable with tax or penalty, or where any adverse decision is contemplated against such person.”
The Court of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh observed that “, I find there has been violation of Sub Section 4 of Section 75 of the GST Act and, therefore, the impugned order is hereby set aside and the matter is remitted back to the file of the 1st respondent for passing fresh assessment order after affording an opportunity of personal hearing to the petitioner.”
The petitioner was directed by the Court to appear before the State Tax Officer on 20.09.2023 and to make his submission with respect to the Show Cause Notice issued to him for finalization of the assessment order. It was also made clear that no notice of hearing shall be given to the petitioner.
Harisankar V. Menon, Counsel appeared for the petitioner and Jasmine M. M., Government Pleader appeared for the respondents.
To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE
Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
