The Madras High Court quashed the Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) assessment orders issued without considering the interim reply submitted by the petitioner/taxpayer. The court directed the GST officers to take up the matter for reconsideration.
The writ petitions challenged assessment orders spanning from the fiscal years 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. The petitioner received a show cause notice on October 2, 2023, to which they responded with an interim reply on November 2, 2023. Subsequent reminders from the respondent prompted requests for extensions to submit a final reply. The impugned orders were issued on February 15, 2024, under these circumstances.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the interim reply, addressing each defect, was not considered during adjudication, despite being uploaded on the portal.
The government advocate, Mr. V. Prashanth Kiran, acknowledges the notice for the respondent and asserts that while the petitioner requested additional time for a final reply, the interim reply wasn’t uploaded as claimed.
Upon examining the documents, the bench noted that the petitioner did submit the interim reply on November 2, 2023. However, the impugned orders made no reference to this crucial interim reply.
Consequently, a Single bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy sets aside the orders for reconsideration, allowing the petitioner 15 days to submit a final reply. The respondent was directed to provide a reasonable opportunity, including a personal hearing, and issue fresh orders within four months of receiving the final reply. If the final reply isn’t filed within 15 days, the respondent granted the liberty to proceed based on the previously submitted interim reply.
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