GST Portal works Differently for Dept. & Taxpayer: Delhi HC sets aside “Invisible” SCN under Additional Notices Tab [Read Order]

The Delhi High Court set aside two demand orders holding that the Show Cause Notices (SCN) were not directly visible to the appellant on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) portal, and there was lack of clarity on part of the Department in ensuring due service of notices.

The appellant, Neelgiri Machinery filed two writ petitions challenging the SCN and the corresponding Demand orders on the grounds that the same were never served upon.

While acknowledging that the SCN were uploaded on the GST portal, submitted that they were placed under the tab “Additional Notices and Orders,” which rendered them not being directly visible under the regular “Notices” tab of the portal that is accessible by the taxpayer.

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The appellant further relied on the co-ordinate bench decision in Satish Chand Mittal (Trade Name National Rubber Products) vs. Sales Tax Officer SGST, Ward 25-Zone 1 (W.P.(C) 12589/2024; DHC) where the Court under similar circumstances remanded the matter to ensure the petitioners get a fair opportunity to be heard.

Pursuant to the court’s direction, the department had submitted a status report which showed that the notices were uploaded under the “Notices” tab on the Department’s side and that the GST portal worked differently on the taxpayer’s side and the department’s side.

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The department further submitted that the only information available to them on their side of the GST portal while issuing the Show Cause Notice was that “Notice or order will be mailed to the Taxpayer and will also be available on his dashboard.” The department also stated that there is no information available to confirm exactly how the taxpayer will see the notice or whether it will be easily visible to them.

The bench comprising Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Rajneesh Kumar Gupta, relying on the coordinated bench decision in Satish Chand Mittal (supra), found merit in the petitioner's contention and ordered to set aside the demand orders.

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The bench further observed that the GST portal functions differently for the department and for taxpayers. Consequently, the petitioner was given an opportunity to file its reply and be heard on merits while the demand orders were liable to be set aside.

Accordingly, the writ was disposed of.

The appellant was represented by Rakesh Kumar and Parveen Gambhir, while the Department was represented by Aditya Singla, Medha Navami, Arya Suresh, Raj Kumar Yadav, Vaibhav Bhardwaj, Abhinav Sharma, and Aakriti Jain.

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