M/S Sri Ram Agencyes Thru. Sole Proprietor Mrs. Sadhna Chaturvedi vs. Union Of INDIA Thru. Secy. Ministry Of Finance Deptt. Of Revenue New Delhi And 3 Others

Heard Shri Kshitij Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner, Shri Paavan Awasthi, Advocate whose Memo of Appearance on behalf of respondent no.1-Union of India is taken on record, learned Standing Counsel for State-respondent nos.2 and 4, and Shri Kuldeepak Nag, learned counsel for respondent no.3. 2. After hearing the parties at length, what comes out is that the show cause notice preceding the final assessment order under Section 73(9) of the GST Act, 2017 was uploaded on a wrong tab of the portal, that is, on the 'Additional Notices & Orders' tab instead of being uploaded on the 'Notices & Orders' tab, on account of which, as claimed by the petitioner, he could not come to know about the said notice. This issue has already been considered by us in our judgment passed in Writ Tax No.683 of 2025 on 31.07.2025 and Writ Tax No. 696 of 2025 dated 31.07.2025, therefore, for the reasons already given therein as apparently there is violation of principles of natural justice and even if it is assumed that the petitioner was at fault to the extent that he did not provide the new mobile number to the department, the fact remains that it is also the responsibility of the respondents to upload the notice on the correct tab of the portal which has not been done and the petitioner has not been able to respond to the said notice, therefore, as the final assessment order is an ex-parte order, we accordingly quash the impugned assessment order dated 21.02.2025 and all consequential actions, if any, taken in pursuance thereof, with liberty, however, to the respondents to proceed afresh against the petitioner, in accordance with law.

The writ petition stands allowed. (Manish Kumar, J.) (Rajan Roy, J.) Order Date :- 6.8.2025 Arnima ARNIMA SINGH High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench