The Madhya Pradesh High Court while quashing the GST order for not complying with mandatory procedure held that the Show cause notice ought to be uploaded on revenue’s website so as to communicate it to the assessee.
The petitioner, Ram Prasad Sharma challenged the demand of tax vide summary of order on the grounds that the foundational show-cause notice/order was never communicated to the petitioner who is an individual registered under GST Act.
As such on the question of violation of principle of natural justice on the anvil of Rule 142 of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, this Court requisitioned reply of the State.
The State has filed a reply disclosing that show-cause notice/order was communicated to the petitioner on his E-mail address and despite receiving the same the petitioner failed to file any response.
The petitioner highlighted the provision of Rule 142(1) of CGST Act to contend that the said provision statutorily obliged the revenue department to communicate show-cause notice/order by uploading the same on the website of revenue so that the aggrieved person can have access to the same and be aware of reasons behind the demand to enable the aggrieved person to avail alternative remedy before the higher forum under CGST Act.
The division bench of Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Rajeev Kumar Shrivastava observed that the only mode prescribed for communicating the show-cause notice/order is by way of uploading the same on the website of the revenue.
“It is a trite principle of law that when a particular procedure is prescribed to perform a particular act then all other procedures/modes except the one prescribed are excluded. This principle becomes all the more stringent when statutorily prescribed as is the case herein,” the court said.
Therefore, the Court has no manner of doubt that statutory procedure prescribed for communicating show-cause notice/order under Rule 142(1) of CGST Act having not been followed by the revenue, the impugned demand pertaining to financial year 2019-2020 and tax period April, 2019 to July, 2019 deserves to be and is struck down.
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