M/S Mf Enterprises Thru. Proprietor Mohd.Faiz vs. Commissioner Commercial Tax (State Tax) Lko. And Another

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD LUCKNOW WRIT TAX No. - 1350 of 2025 Court No. - 3 HON'BLE SHEKHAR B. SARAF, J. HON'BLE BRIJ RAJ SINGH, J. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. This is a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India whereby the petitioner has made the following prayer: "i. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Certiorari, quashing the impugned Order dated 20.01.2025 on Annex-1 passed by the Deputy Commissioner, State Tax, Sector-11, Lucknow, in Form DRC-07 (Reference No. ZD0901252296872) for the tax period September 2021 to March 2022, on the ground that the same has been passed in violation of Section 75(4) of the CGST/UPGST Act, without fixing or granting any personal hearing. ii. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus, commanding the respondent authorities to conduct de novo adjudication proceedings strictly in accordance with law, after (i) serving a fresh notice fixing a definite date, time and venue of personal hearing, (ii) granting reasonable opportunity to the petitioner to file additional submissions and documents, and (iii) passing a reasoned and speaking order in compliance with Section 75(4) and Section 75(6) of the CGST/UPGST Act, 2017. iii. Issue a writ, order, or direction declaring that the rejection of the petitioner's appeal solely on technical grounds violates the principles of Versus Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Vikas Singh, Raja Babu Gupta Counsel for Respondent(s) : C.S.C. M/S Mf Enterprises Thru. Proprietor Mohd.Faiz .....Petitioner(s) Commissioner Commercial Tax (State Tax) Lko. And Another .....Respondent(s)

natural justice and the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India." From perusal of records, it appears that a show cause notice was issued to the petitioner on 24.08.2024 and the date of personal hearing was fixed on 26.09.2024. The petitioner did not appear in terms of the said show cause notice and thereafter an original order under Section 74 was passed on 20.01.2025. It further appears from the record that no further notice was given to the petitioner with regard to the hearing that was to be taken place on 20.01.2025 on which date the impugned order was passed. In view thereof, we are of the view that this matter is covered by the judgment of the Coordinate Bench of this Bench at Allahabad in Shubham Steel Traders v. State of U.P., (2024) 132 GSTR 541 : 2024 SCC OnLine All 7711. In light of the same, we are of the view that the original order passed under Section 74 of the GST Act, 2017 is in violation of the principle of natural justice and, accordingly non est in law. Accordingly, the order dated 20.01.2025 passed under Section 74 of the GST Act, 2017 is quashed and set aside with direction to the authorities concerned to grant another opportunity of hearing to the petitioner and thereafter pass the order in accordance with law. With the aforesaid directions, the writ petition stands disposed of. November 26, 2025 Mohit Singh/- WTAX No. 1350 of 2025 2 (Brij Raj Singh,J.) (Shekhar B. Saraf,J.) MOHIT SINGH High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench