M/S Business Aircraft Management Services PVT LTD. vs. The State Of Karnataka
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 Certiorari or any other appropriate writ Quashing the impugned order dated 13.03.2024 vide Annexure-A, passed by Respondent No.3, The Assistant Commissioner of Commercial taxes, LGSTO – 17, DGSTO- 04 in determining and directing the Petitioner to pay tax, interest and penalty for a sum of Rs.16,15,303/- and consequently, direct the release of Rs.11,70,369/- which stands frozen pursuant to Notice in Form GST DRC-13 from the Petitioner’s bank account bearing No.50200017152350 held with HDFC Bank, HSR Layout Branch, Bangalore and to;
(b) Pass any other order or direction as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case, in the interest of justice and equity.” HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:42181
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned HCGP for the respondents and perused the material on record.
A perusal of material on record will indicate that pursuant to notice in Form GST ASMT-10 dated 16.10.2023, the respondent No.3 issued an intimation notice under Form GST DRC – 01A dated 17.11.2023 to the petitioner, who did not issue any reply/response to the same. Subsequently, the respondent No.3 issued a show-cause notice dated 26.12.2023 alleging that total output GST declared in R3B is less than R1. Since the petitioner did not submit his reply to the said show-cause notice also, the respondent No.3 proceeded to pass the impugned order dated 13.03.2024 under Section 73(9) read with Section 73(10), 50, 122(2)(a) of the KGST Act, 2017 confirming the total demand of Rs.16,15,303/- including the tax, interest and penalty.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner was not aware of any of the notices/intimations/orders being issued since they were being sent to email account of the petitioner which was under the Junk folder and not appearing in the inbox and hence couldn't submit replies/ documents to neither the HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:42181 pre-intimation notice nor the show-cause notice and resultantly couldn’t contest the proceedings. Aggrieved by the said order the petitioner having no option has approached this Court by way of the present petition interalia contending that the inability and omission on the part of the petitioner to submit a reply to the pre- intimation notice and show-cause notice and contest the proceedings was due to bonafide reasons, unavoidable circumstances and sufficient cause and submits that if one more opportunity is provided, by setting aside the impugned order, the petitioner would submit a reply to the show-cause notice and contest the proceedings.
Per contra, learned HCGP for the respondents submits that there is no merit in the petition and the same is liable to be dismissed.
Though several contentions have been urged by both sides, the learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner was not aware of any of the notices/intimations/orders being issued since they were being sent to email account of the petitioner which was under the Junk folder and not appearing in the HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:42181 inbox and the fact that the petitioner did not file its reply/ documents culminated in the impugned ex-parte order.
Under these circumstances, having regard to the specific assertion on the part of the petitioner that his inability and omission to submit replies and contest the proceedings was due to bonafide reasons, unavoidable circumstances and sufficient cause, I deem it just and appropriate to adopt a justice oriented approach and provide one more opportunity to the petitioner by setting aside the impugned order dated 13.03.2024 remitting the matter back to the respondent No.3 for reconsideration of the matter afresh in accordance with law from the stage of petitioner submitting reply to the impugned show-cause notice dated 26.12.2023. 9. In the result, I pass the following: ORDER
(i) The petition is hereby allowed.
(ii) The impugned order dated 13.03.2024 passed by the respondent No.3 under Section 73(9) read with Section 73(10), 50, 122(2)(a) of the KGST Act and concurrent provisions under Sections 6 HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:42181 and 73 of the CGST Act 2017 and Section 20 of the IGST Act, 2017 at Annexure – A is hereby set aside.
(iii) The matter is remitted back to the respondent No.3 for reconsideration afresh in accordance with law within a period of three months from the stage of petitioner submitting its reply to the Show-cause Notice dated 26.12.2023 at Annexure – E.
(iv) The petitioner is directed to appear before the respondent No.3 on 10.11.2025 without awaiting further notice from the respondent No.3. (v) The liberty is reserved in favour of the petitioner to submit replies, documents etc., which shall be considered by the first respondent who shall provide sufficient and reasonable opportunity to the petitioner and hear them and proceed further in accordance with law.
(vi) In the event, the Petitioner does not appear before the respondent No.3 on 10.11.2025 as HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:42181 stated supra, present order shall stand automatically recalled without further orders.
(vii) Remand amount recovered by the respondent shall be subject to the final outcome of the proceedings. (S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR) JUDGE MDS List No.: 3 Sl No.: 14
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.