GST Order Incorrectly Recorded Taxpayer Did Not File Reply: Calcutta HC Remands Matter for Fresh Adjudication [Read Order]

In a recent ruling, the Calcutta High Court set aside a GST order that wrongly recorded the taxpayer had not filed a reply and sent the matter back for fresh adjudication.

Snehashis Dutta filed a writ petition challenging an order passed by the proper officer under Section 73 of the CGST/WBGST Act for the period July 2017 to March 2018. The dispute arose after the GST department issued a show-cause notice to the petitioner despite an earlier audit report and proceedings indicating that the issues for the same period had already been settled, with the petitioner having deposited the required taxes.

The petitioner argued that a reply to the fresh show-cause notice was duly filed and acknowledged on the GST portal, but the proper officer passed an order without considering this reply, incorrectly stating that no response had been submitted. The petitioner argued that this violated principles of natural justice and that the department should have considered the reply before passing the order.

The GST department’s counsel argued that they had not received instructions from the concerned authorities to challenge the petitioner’s claims regarding the reply.

A single bench led by Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury observed that the petitioner’s reply was indeed filed and acknowledged electronically and that the department did not dispute this fact during the hearing. The court observed that ignoring this reply and recording that no reply was submitted amounted to a violation of natural justice.

The court set aside the GST order and directed the proper officer to reconsider the petitioner’s reply and pass a fresh order after giving the petitioner an opportunity to be heard. The writ petition was allowed.

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