Delhi High Court Sets Aside Ex-Parte GST Order Against Logistics Firm, Remands Matter for Fresh Adjudication [Read Order]

The Delhi High Court has set aside an ex-parte Goods and Services Tax (GST) adjudication order passed against a logistics firm without providing them an effective opportunity of hearing. The Court held that fairness in adjudication cannot be compromised even as the constitutional validity of certain limitation-extension notifications remains under examination before the Supreme Court.

HKX Logistics India Private Limited, through its Director, challenged the show cause notice issued on May 29, 2024, and the consequent order dated August 17, 2024, for Financial Year 2019-20. The petitioner contended that both documents were uploaded only under the newly introduced “Additional Notices” tab of the GST portal and were never brought to its attention. It stated that the order came to light only during a statutory audit in September 2025, and therefore no reply or appearance could be made.

The Department argued that the GST portal changes, including visibility of the “Additional Notices” tab, had been implemented on January 16, 2024, well before the issuance of the notice. They submitted that the petitioner neither filed a response nor attended the hearing, despite of reminders and a personal hearing date getting communicated. This led to the confirmation of demand.

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The Bench, comprising Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Shail Jain, took note of the submissions, and turned to the batch of petitions by DJST Traders Private Limited v. Union of India (W.P.(C) No. 16499/2023), in which the same notifications had been challenged. The Court highlighted that different High Courts had delivered divergent views on the validity of these notifications. The Telangana High Court’s observations on the invalidity of Notification No. 56 of 2023 (Central Tax)Notification 56/2023 were also referenced, underscoring that the issue is now squarely pending before the Apex Court.

Against this backdrop, the High Court observed that regardless of the pending challenge to the notifications, the impugned order against the petitioner had been passed without granting a meaningful opportunity of hearing. Relying on its earlier decision in Sugandha Enterprises v. Commissioner, Delhi GST (2025), the Court held that denial of a fair opportunity renders the adjudication unsustainable.

The Court, therefore, set aside the order passed on August 17, 2024, subject to payment of ₹20,000 as costs. It granted the petitioner time until January 15, 2026, to file a comprehensive reply to the show cause notice and directed the adjudicating authority to issue a fresh notice of personal hearing.

It was further clarified that any fresh order would remain subject to the Supreme Court’s determination of the validity of the impugned notifications. The petition was disposed of with directions restoring the taxpayer’s right to contest the matter on merits and ensuring portal access for uploading submissions and reviewing notices.

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