The High Court of Allahabad, upheld the validity of Goods and Service Tax (GST) notice served via email and dismissed the petition, citing availability of alternate remedy through appeal under Section 107 of the GST Act,2017.

D.R. Hotels Pvt. Ltd,petitioner-assessee, filed a writ petition challenging the GST assessment order dated 19.02.2025 and the subsequent order dated 11.06.2025 freezing its bank account.The petitioner ran a five-star hotel in Lucknow and was registered under GST. The dispute related to the period from April 2020 to March 2021.

The authorities issued notices to the email and mobile number given at the time of registration, which belonged to the petitioner’s then Manager. The Manager later left the job, and the petitioner lost access to those contact details.

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As a result, the petitioner claimed to be unaware of the assessment proceedings and did not get a chance to respond. The order was passed ex parte, and no communication was received about it. The petitioner only came to know about the matter when the bank account was frozen. By that time, the appeal period under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Service Tax ( CGST ) Act had expired.

The petitioner relied on Madras High Court rulings in Sakthi Steel Trading and Tvl. Sri Mathuru Eswarar Traders to support the case.

The respondent counsel said the petition should not be entertained as the petitioner could have filed an appeal under Section 107 of the GST Act.

He said notices were properly served as per Section 169, which allows service through email, post, portal, or by affixing at the business place. Since the notice was sent to the email given at registration, it was treated as valid. He added that it was the petitioner’s duty to update contact details with the department.

In response, the petitioner’s counsel said no chance was given to be heard during assessment. He argued that the department should have also sent the notice by registered post, as required under Section 169, and failure to do so went against natural justice.

Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal and Justice Alok Mathur considered both sides and found that the case mainly involved service of notice during assessment proceedings. It referred to Section 169 of the GST Act, which allows notices to be served through various modes, including email. In this case, notices were sent to the email address provided by the petitioner at the time of registration.

The Court noted that several notices were issued under Sections 61 and 73 of the GST Act, but the petitioner did not respond or upload any reply. As a result, the order was passed ex parte.

It held that since the petitioner had shared the email ID for communication, the department could not be blamed for lack of response. The bench also referred to Section 13 of the IT Act, stating that emails are deemed received when they reach the designated system.

Citing Supreme Court judgments, the Court ruled that there was no violation of natural justice and that the petitioner had an effective remedy through appeal under Section 107 of the GST Act.

The petition was dismissed as not maintainable.

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