Iti Limited vs. The Joint Commissioner

Held

The High Court found that the assessing authority failed to properly apply its mind to the documents and provide an opportunity to reconcile discrepancies, which constituted a violation of natural justice. Consequently, the Court set aside the assessment order (Ext.P4) and directed the 1st respondent to conduct a fresh hearing, allowing the appellant to produce additional evidence and reconcile the data.

Facts

ITI Limited, a PSU, reclaimed input tax credit (ITC) after reversing it earlier due to delayed payments, leading to a mismatch between GSTR-2A and GSTR-3B for FY 2020-2021. The assessing authority issued an order (Ext.P4) under Section 73, which the petitioner challenged in a writ petition, alleging violation of natural justice for not considering submitted documents. The Single Judge dismissed the writ petition, directing the petitioner to avail the alternate remedy of appeal under Section 107.

Key Issues

Whether the assessing authority violated principles of natural justice by failing to consider submitted documents or provide an opportunity to reconcile data discrepancies. Whether the writ court should have relegated the petitioner to the alternate remedy of appeal despite the natural justice violation.