M/S Anjani Kumar Sinha vs. The Union Of INDIA

Held

The Court held that the petitioner had made out a case for violation of the principles of natural justice. The Court found that mere dispatch of the show cause notice by speed post, without proof of actual service or track reports, does not constitute sufficient proof of service. The Court noted that the respondents did not provide evidence of the address to which the notice was dispatched or who received it, nor did they obtain speed post track reports. Consequently, the Court set aside the impugned ex parte assessment order. The petitioner was granted an opportunity to file a response to the show cause notice within 30 days. The competent authority was directed to fix a hearing date and communicate it to the petitioner, and to pass a final order within two months of the show cause response filing. The issue regarding the manual DIN was not explicitly decided but was implicitly subsumed within the broader finding of violation of natural justice due to lack of proper service.

Facts

The petitioner, M/s Anjani Kumar Sinha, filed a writ application challenging an ex parte assessment order dated 11.12.2023 and the consequential demand raised via DRC-07. The petitioner contended that the show cause notice dated 20.03.2023 was not duly served. The respondents asserted that the notice was placed on the GST portal and sent via speed post, supported by dispatch register pages. The petitioner, in their rejoinder, denied receiving the speed post notice. A further contention was raised regarding the manual writing of the DIN number on the show cause notice, violating Circular No.128/47/2019. The respondents admitted that the DRC-07 was uploaded after the statutory period for appeal had expired.

Key Issues

1. Whether the show cause notice dated 20.03.2023 was duly served upon the petitioner, in accordance with principles of natural justice and relevant circulars, particularly in light of the petitioner's denial of receipt and the respondents' reliance on dispatch records and portal upload? 2. Whether the manual writing of the DIN number on the show cause notice violates Circular No.128/47/2019 (GST) dated 23.12.2019, which mandates electronic generation of DIN for all communications? 3. Whether the ex parte assessment order and consequential demand are liable to be quashed on the grounds of non-service of the show cause notice and violation of principles of natural justice? Petitioner's arguments: The petitioner argued that the show cause notice was not received, including via speed post. They also contended that the manual DIN violated Circular No.128/47/2019. The petitioner sought a fresh hearing and quashing of the ex parte order. Revenue's arguments: The respondents argued that the show cause notice was served by uploading it on the GST portal and sending it via speed post. They relied on dispatch register pages and contended that non-return of speed post implies service. They also suggested that the delay in uploading DRC-07 could be addressed by directing the appellate authority to condone the limitation period if an appeal were filed.