GST: HC Dismisses Writ Alleging Violation of Natural Justice, Upholds Assessment Where Reply Lacked Supporting Documents

GST: HC Dismisses Writ Alleging Violation of Natural Justice, Upholds Assessment Where Reply Lacked Supporting Documents

The present writ petition is being filed by S. Salaikumaran (petitioner), under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, in the Madras High Court, asking the court to review and quash the order dated 04.02.2025 passed by the Assistant Commissioner regarding his GST assessment.

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The dispute arose when the Assistant Commissioner passed a show cause notice dated 11.09.2023 to the taxpayer, asking the taxpayer why the particular action should not be taken against him. The taxpayer replied to the notice with a detailed explanation, timely by 17.09.2023. Thereafter, the authority passed the final assessment order dated 04.02.2025. The taxpayer argued that the impugned order had not been passed properly, considering the reply filed by him, hence asking the High Court to quash the order.

In this context, the Assistant Commissioner argued that the taxpayer’s reply was clearly extracted in the assessment order. But, since he did not upload any supporting documents in his reply, the tax officer could not accept his explanation. Further, the taxpayer was awarded three chances of personal hearing after the reply was submitted by him via notices dated 19.12.2023, 18.01.2024 and 24.09.2024; however, he did not use any of the chances. Hence, there is no violation of natural justice, and the order was not invalid.

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When the court observed the entire matter, it discovered that it was true that the tax officer had extracted the taxpayer’s reply in the order, and it was also true that the taxpayer did not give any supporting documents for his claims. The taxpayer was awarded three separate chances for a personal hearing, but the petitioner did not utilise any advantage to them, and since the taxpayer was given proper opportunities to defend himself, the Court held that there was no violation of principles of natural justice. Therefore, the court dismissed the writ petition and imposed a penalty of Rs. 5,000 on the taxpayer. Order the taxpayer to pay the amount to the Principal, the Government Naturopathy Medical College and Hospital, within four weeks.