‘Assessees are facing difficulties in working on the GST Portal’: Allahabad HC Finds Violation of Natural Justice, Sets Aside Demand [Read Order]
Multiple taxpayers have raised identical grievances that such notices and orders are “not displayed promptly on the dashboard upon issuance or passing,” denying them of an opportunity to respond in time.
![‘Assessees are facing difficulties in working on the GST Portal’: Allahabad HC Finds Violation of Natural Justice, Sets Aside Demand [Read Order]](https://images.taxscan.in/h-upload/2025/11/11/2104124-assessees-the-gst-portal-allahabad-hc-natural-justice-demand-taxscan.webp "‘Assessees are facing difficulties in working on the GST Portal’: Allahabad HC Finds Violation of Natural Justice, Sets Aside Demand [Read Order]")
The Allahabad High Court recently set aside a GST demand order issued violating the principles of natural justice, observing that numerous assessees continue to face technical and procedural difficulties on the GST portal, particularly in receiving and accessing show cause notices and adjudication orders.
The petitioner, M/s 360 Realtors LLP a regular taxpayer, challenged the order dated 23 July 2024, issued under Section 73 of the UPGST Act, 2017, creating a tax demand of ₹1.14 crore for FY 2019-20.
The petitioner contended that the show cause notice and subsequent order were never physically served and were only uploaded under the “Additional Notices and Orders” tab on the GST portal, not visible directly on the dashboard.
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Thus, the assessee remained unaware of the proceedings until its bank account was attached during recovery. By that time, the limitation period for filing an appeal had already expired.
The Revenue argued that Section 169(1)(d) of the GST Act allows electronic service of notices through the common portal and that the petitioner, being an active user, was deemed to have knowledge of such notices.
It was further contended that once the appeal was dismissed as time-barred, the writ petition was not maintainable.
The Division Bench of Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Indrajeet Shukla made important observations about deficiencies in GST communication and natural justice.
The Court noted that “It has been recognized that a considerable influx of litigation of similar nature is arising every day. Clearly, the assessees are facing difficulties in working on the GST Portal especially with respect to communication of Show Cause Notices and Adjudication Orders.”
Further, the Bench remarked that multiple taxpayers have raised identical grievances that such notices and orders are “not displayed promptly on the dashboard upon issuance or passing,” denying them of an opportunity to respond in time.
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The Court also said that under the GST Act, strict limitation periods for appeals and the absence of power of remand with appellate authorities often result in grave prejudice to taxpayers who never received effective communication of proceedings.
Additionally, the bench observed that, “Any tax regime may work most efficiently only where the trust of the taxpayers exists. To the extent the difficulties being faced by the assessees appear to be genuine and not false or a pretense, the writ court may not fail in its duty to ensure that the cause of justice is served well.”
Holding that the appeal dismissed as time-barred did not amount to a decision on merits, the Court exercised its writ jurisdiction to set aside the demand order.
The bench directed the petitioner to deposit ₹1,00,000 within one month, after which the adjudicating authority must provide a fresh opportunity to file a reply, fix a hearing, and issue a reasoned order by 31 March 2026.
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