G R Gopala Krishna Reddy vs. The Commercial Tax Officer
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Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORAL ORDER The petitioner is before this Court seeking the following prayer: “a) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the Order of Adjudication by the Respondent No.1 dated 22.03.2024 passed under section 73(9) for the tax period 2018-19 of the Central Goods and Service Act, 2017. Bearing No. CTO/SGSTO-172/BIFA 2A ADJ-77/2023-24 Copy of the order dated 22.03.2024 passed under section 73(9) of the CGST Act, 2017 is enclosed and marked as Annexure A1. b) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the Summary of the Order in Form GST DRC-07 dated 27.03.2024 issued by the Respondent No.1 bearing Reference No. ZD2903240715549. Copy of the Summary of the Order in Form GST DRC-07 dated 27.03.2024 is enclosed and marked as Annexure - A2. c) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the Show cause notice dated 30.01.2024 for the tax period 2018-2019 issued by the Respondent No.1 bearing Office File No. SGSTO-172/MGIRI/DRC-01-187/2023-24. Copy of the show cause notice dated 30.01.2024 s enclosed and marked as Annexure - АЗ.
d) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the Summary of the Show cause notice in DRC-01 issued by the Respondent No. 1 for the tax period 2018-19 bearing Reference Number ZD2901240658941 dated 31.01.2024. Copy of the GST DRC-01 dated 31.01.2024 is enclosed and marked as Annexure - A4. HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:34013 e) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the GST DRC-01A issued under section 73(5) of the Act for the tax period 2018-2019 by the Respondent No.1 dated 23.01.2024. Copy of the GST DRC-01A Bearing No.CTO-SGSTO-172-MG1R2 MGIRI-DRC01a- 19820232024 dated 23.01.2024, is enclosed and marked as Annexure - A5. f) And pass such other orders as this Hon'ble Court deems fit and proper in the interest of justice and equity.”
Heard Sri Pranay Sharma, learned counsel for petitioner and Smt. Jyoti M. Maradi, learned High Court Government Pleader for the respondents.
Facts in brief, germane, are as follows: The petitioner is a contractor and had a GST registration. Owing to certain factors, registration comes to be cancelled by an order dated 10.04.2022. After which, a show cause notice comes to be issued demanding an amount of ₹7,65,858/- including interest and penalty on the non- payment of Goods and Services Tax (for short ‘the GST’), on 30.01.2024. By then, the GST Registration itself stood cancelled. Therefore, the petitioner did not appear before the concerned Authority or HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:34013 submit his reply to the show cause notice so issued on 30.01.2024. This led to passage of the impugned order dated 22.03.2024, which is admittedly an exparte order, as the petitioner neither appeared before the concerned Authority nor submitted his reply to the show cause notice on account of cancellation of GST registration.
Learned counsel would now contend that if an opportunity is rendered, he would submit his reply to the show cause notice and all the proceedings be subject to result of the Special Leave to Appeal (c) No.4240/2025, pending before the Apex Court, wherein, a circular is under challenge.
Learned High Court Government Pleader though would submit that the petitioner has not appeared before the concerned Authority or submitted a reply to the show cause notice, would admit the fact that the registration of the GST of the petitioner had stood cancelled on 10.04.2022. HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:34013
In that light, it becomes an admitted fact that the proceedings which has led the petitioner to challenge before this Court are exparte proceedings and are in violation of principles of natural justice. Therefore, to afford an opportunity to the petitioner, the matter stands remitted back to respondent No.1 – Commercial Tax Officer, to consider the matter afresh in accordance with law.
For the aforesaid reasons, the following: ORDER a. The writ petition is partly allowed. b. The order of adjudication dated 22.03.2024, passed by the first respondent stands quashed. c. The matter is remitted back to the first respondent to consider the issue from the stage of submission of the reply to the show cause notice dated 30.01.2024. d. The petitioner shall now submit his reply to the show cause notice dated 30.01.2024, within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of the order. HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:34013 e. The first respondent shall consider the reply that would be submitted by the petitioner and take the issue to its logical conclusion by regulating the procedure, in accordance with law. f. All contentions except the one considered hereinabove, shall remain open. Ordered accordingly. (M.NAGAPRASANNA) JUDGE
NVJ List No.: 1 Sl No.: 11
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.