Smt Hassan Laxman Rao Vidya vs. Assistant Commissioner Of Commercial Taxes
Original PDF →No AI summary yet for this judgment.
Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORAL ORDER
In this petition, petitioner seeks for the following reliefs:- “A. Issue a writ of certiorari or any other suitable writ quashing the proceedings under Rule 86(A)(1) dated 05.05.2022 bearing vide ORDER NO. ACCT/ LGSTO- 240/HSN/ITC/BLOCK-04/2022-23 issued by Respondent No.2 and enclosed as Annexure C. B. Issue a writ of certiorari or any other suitable writ quashing the Show Cause Notice under section 29(2) dated 09/03/2022 bearing Ref.No.ZA290322027730T issued by Respondent No.2 and enclosed as Annexure D. C. Issue a writ of certiorari or any other suitable writ quashing the Order u/s 74(9) dated 27/09/2023 bearing File No. ACCT(Audit): Smg: T: 2023-24 along with DRC-07 bearing reference no.ZD2909230472066 for the tax period from July 2017-March 2018 issued by the Respondent No. 1 and enclosed as Annexure J1 and Annexure J2 respectively. D. And pass such other orders as this Hon'ble Court deems fit and proper in the interest of justice and equity.”
Heard the learned counsel for both parties and perused the material on record. HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:47489
A perusal of the material on record will indicate that the petitioner was granted GST registration certificate on 01.07.20217. Pursuant to issuance of summons dated 22.10.2018, to which the petitioner filed a reply dated 21.12.2018, respondent No.2 issued a show-cause notice dated 09.03.2022 to which the petitioner did not submit any reply. Under these circumstances, respondent No.1 proceeded to pass the impugned exparte adjudication order dated 27.09.2023, aggrieved by which the petitioner is before this court by way of the present petition.
It is a specific contention of the petitioner that he did not receive the aforesaid notices. Orders etc, and due to bonafide reasons, unavoidable circumstances and sufficient cause, the petitioner was not in a position to submit reply and contest the proceedings and as such, it is necessary that the impugned order dated 27.09.2023 is set aside and the matter be remitted back to the concerned respondent for reconsideration afresh to the stage of the petitioner submitting reply to the show cause notice and to proceed further in the matter. HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:47489
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that he would not press prayer (a) and (b) and the same is placed on record.
Per contra learned AGA for respondent Nos.1 to 6 and learned counsel for respondent No.7 submits that there is no merit in the petition and that the same is liable to be dismissed.
A perusal of the material on record will indicate that though several contentions have been urged by both sides in support of their respective claims, it is an undisputed fact and a matter of record that the petitioner did not submit any replies to the notices issued by the respondents nor did he participate in the impugned proceedings, which culminated in the impugned exparte adjudication order in the absence of the petitioner. Under these circumstances, in order to provide one more opportunity to the petitioner to submit reply to the show cause notice and contest the proceedings, I deem it just and appropriate to adopt justice oriented approach and set aside the impugned order at Annexure-J1 dated 27.09.2023 and remit the matter back to the respondent for HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:47489 reconsideration afresh to the stage of the petitioner submitting reply to the show cause notice
In the result, I pass the following: ORDER i) The Writ Petition is allowed;
ii) The impugned order and the summary of the order, both dated 27.09.2023 passed by respondent No.1 at Annexures-J1 and J2 respectively, are hereby set aside; iii) The matter is remitted back to respondent No.1 for reconsideration afresh from the stage of the petitioner submitting its reply to show-cause notice dated 09.03.2022, in accordance with law. iv) The petitioner shall appear before the respondent on 15.12.2025, without awaiting further notice from the respondents, failing which the present order shall stand recalled automatically, without further reference to the Bench and without further orders. v) Liberty is reserved in favour of the petitioner to submit replies, responses, pleadings, documents etc., which shall be considered by the respondent, who shall provide sufficient and HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:47489 reasonable opportunity to the petitioner, hear him and proceed further, in accordance with law. vii) Further, in the light of the judgment of the Division Bench of this Court in the case of K-9- W.A.No.100425/2023 and connected matters, the respondents are hereby directed to unblock the electronic credit ledger of the petitioner, immediately, without any delay. (S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR) JUDGE
BMC List No.: 2 Sl No.: 28
Reproduced from the public record of the Karnataka High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.