Hearing Fixed Before Reply Deadline 'Illusory: Uttarakhand HC Quashes GST Assessment Order [Read Order]
The Court remitted the matter back to the Adjudicating Authority, directing them to proceed afresh from the stage of the show cause notice.
![Hearing Fixed Before Reply Deadline Illusory: Uttarakhand HC Quashes GST Assessment Order [Read Order]](https://images.taxscan.in/h-upload/2026/06/05/2139193-hearing-deadline-illusory-uttarakhand-hc-gst-assessment-order-taxscan.webp "Hearing Fixed Before Reply Deadline Illusory: Uttarakhand HC Quashes GST Assessment Order [Read Order]")
The Uttarakhand High Court has quashed a GST assessment order, holding that the hearing fixed before the reply deadline was an ‘illusory’ and adjudication process violated the principles of natural justice. The core contention of the petitioner, Star Medical Store, was that the procedure adopted by the tax authorities was legally flawed. Counsel for the petitioner...
The Uttarakhand High Court has quashed a GST assessment order, holding that the hearing fixed before the reply deadline was an ‘illusory’ and adjudication process violated the principles of natural justice.
The core contention of the petitioner, Star Medical Store, was that the procedure adopted by the tax authorities was legally flawed. Counsel for the petitioner argued that the date for the personal hearing was fixed prior to the last date prescribed for submitting a reply to the show cause notice, thereby depriving the assessee of a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Reliance was placed on a recent court order in M/s Abuturrab Agencies v. The Commissioner, State Tax to support the claim that such scheduling was illegal.
The Court found merit in this argument, a position that was effectively conceded by the Revenue. The learned counsel for the State acknowledged that since the personal hearing was scheduled 18 days before the deadline for filing the reply, the hearing offered was "illusory" and not in conformity with the prescribed procedure.
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The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay, allowed the writ petition challenging the order dated 21.08.2024 and the subsequent show cause notice issued under Section 73 of the GST Act, 2017.
Consequently, the High Court held that the assessment order could not stand and quashed it immediately. The Court remitted the matter back to the Adjudicating Authority, directing them to proceed afresh from the stage of the show cause notice. The authorities were instructed to fix a proper date for a personal hearing in accordance with the law, ensuring the petitioner is granted a fair opportunity to present their case. All pending applications were disposed of in light of this order.
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