M/S Kn Infracore Private Limited vs. State Of Uttar Pradesh And Another

Facts

The petitioner, M/s Kn Infracore Private Limited, filed a writ petition challenging orders dated December 12, 2023, and September 26, 2023, passed by the Deputy Commissioner, State Tax, Ghaziabad, under Section 73 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017. These orders created a demand against the petitioner for the financial year 2017-18. The petitioner contended that the notices and orders were uploaded on the 'Additional Notices and Orders' tab of the GST portal, not the 'Due Notices and Orders' tab, rendering them unaware of the proceedings. Consequently, they could neither appear before the authority nor challenge the orders within the limitation period. The petitioner relied on a previous judgment in Ola Fleet Technologies Pvt. Ltd. v. State of U.P. & 2 others, which dealt with a similar issue of notice uploading.

Held

The Court allowed the writ petition, quashing and setting aside the orders dated December 12, 2023, and September 26, 2023, passed by the Deputy Commissioner, State Tax, Ghaziabad. The Court found that the uploading of notices and orders on the 'Additional Notices and Orders' tab, rather than the 'Due Notices and Orders' tab, meant that the petitioner was not properly informed of the proceedings. This aligns with the reasoning in the cited case of Ola Fleet Technologies Pvt. Ltd. The Court held that the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of doubt due to the improper communication. The ratio decidendi is that if statutory notices are not uploaded on the designated portal tab accessible to the assessee, leading to their lack of awareness and inability to respond within the limitation period, the consequent orders are liable to be set aside. The Court directed the Assessing Officer to issue a fresh notice to the petitioner with at least 15 days' clear notice, in the prescribed manner, and to conduct further proceedings based on this fresh notice.

Key Issues

1. Whether the uploading of notices and orders on the 'Additional Notices and Orders' tab of the GST portal, instead of the 'Due Notices and Orders' tab, constitutes proper communication to the assessee, thereby affecting their ability to respond within the prescribed limitation period, as contemplated under Section 73 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017? Petitioner's Contention: The petitioner argued that the notices and orders were not properly communicated as they were uploaded on the 'Additional Notices and Orders' tab, which they were unaware of. This prevented them from appearing before the authority or questioning the orders within the limitation period. They relied on the judgment in Ola Fleet Technologies Pvt. Ltd. v. State of U.P. & 2 others and M/s Mohini Traders Vs. State of U.P. and Another. Respondent's Contention: The learned counsel for the Department did not dispute the contentions regarding the uploading of notices and orders on the 'Additional Notices and Orders' tab instead of the 'Due Notices and Orders' tab. They acknowledged that the issue was covered by the judgment in Ola Fleet Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Supra). The Department also indicated that the GST Network, a separate entity, would need to address issues related to the web portal's functionality.