Surindra Radios PVT LTD vs. Union Of INDIA And Others

Facts

The petitioner, Surindra Radios Pvt. Ltd., filed a writ petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the validity of service of a notice and an order-in-original. The core of the dispute revolves around whether uploading these documents on the common GST portal (www.gst.gov.in) under the 'View Additional Notices and Orders' tab constitutes proper service on the petitioner, as per Sections 169 and 146 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The revenue authorities are the respondents. The procedural history indicates that this issue has been previously decided by the same High Court in a similar case.

Held

The Court held that service of a Show Cause Notice (SCN) upon the petitioner/assessee cannot be deemed sufficient merely on account of its uploading on the Common Portal, unless its receipt is acknowledged or a reply is filed. If an SCN is served only by uploading it on the Common Portal and an ex parte order-in-original is passed in the absence of a reply, the proceedings must be restored to the stage of SCN issuance. The petitioner would then be at liberty to file a reply within four weeks, after which the Department must proceed after affording a hearing. In cases where the order-in-original was passed after contest but served only by uploading on the portal, the limitation period for appeal would not be triggered, and the assessee would have four weeks from the date of the judgment to file an appeal. If appeals against such orders were dismissed for limitation, those appellate orders would be set aside, and the appeals restored for decision on merits. The ratio is that mere uploading on the portal is insufficient for valid service unless knowledge or contest is established, and procedural fairness must be ensured.

Key Issues

1. Whether uploading a notice and an order-in-original on the common GST portal under the 'View Additional Notices and Orders' tab amounts to proper service on the petitioner, in light of Section 169 read with Section 146 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017? The petitioner's contention, implicitly, is that such uploading alone does not constitute proper service. The revenue's argument, as reflected in the cited judgment, is that service of notice by uploading it on the Common Portal cannot be discarded where the person concerned has knowledge of it and has contested the proceedings by filing a reply. In such cases, the Show Cause Notice (SCN) cannot be said to have not been served upon the assessee. The revenue further contends that where the SCN has been responded to and after contest, the order-in-original is passed, the order-in-original cannot be challenged merely due to a defect in service of the SCN/order by uploading it on the Common Portal.