Issuing GST MOV-07 and MOV-09 on Same Date is Unsustainable: Punjab & Haryana HC [Read Order]

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that issuing a show cause notice in Form GST ( Goods and Services Tax ) MOV-07 and passing the final order in Form GST MOV-09 on the same day is legally unsustainable and violates the principles of natural justice.

The petitioner, NAS Babu Constructions Pvt. Ltd challenged an order passed in Form GST MOV-09 dated 07.11.2025, contending that it was issued on the very same date as the show cause notice in Form GST MOV-07, without granting any reasonable opportunity to respond.

The grievance of the petitioner was that such a procedure defeats the purpose of issuing a show cause notice, which is to enable the taxpayer to submit a reply and be heard before any adverse order is passed.

During the hearing, the State verified that the impugned MOV-09 order was indeed passed on the same day as the issuance of the MOV-07 notice. Although an attempt was made to justify the action by stating that the order was passed at the instance of the petitioner, the High Court noted that there was no material on record to support such a claim.

The Division Bench of Justices Lisa Gill and Parmod Goyal held that passing a final order simultaneously with the issuance of a show cause notice amounts to a clear-cut violation of the principles of natural justice.

The Court said that a show cause notice is not an empty formality and must be followed by a meaningful opportunity of reply and consideration by the adjudicating authority before passing an order.

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Accordingly, the High Court set aside the impugned Form GST MOV-09 order as unsustainable in law and granted liberty to the tax authorities to proceed afresh in accordance with law after issuing the show cause notice.

The Court clarified that it had not expressed an opinion on the case's merits, but it did record both parties' approval for the petitioner's authorized representative to come before the appropriate authorities on the specified day for speedy adjudication.

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