M/S Tescom vs. The Commercial Tax Officer (P)
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Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORAL ORDER In this petition the petitioner seeks for following reliefs: a) Issue a writ of certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the order of adjudication dated 02.12.2023 passed by the Respondent bearing No.CTO(P)LGSTO-025/DRC- 07/2023-24 for the tax period April 2018 to March 2019, herein enclosed and marked as Annexure-A1. b) Issue a writ of certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the online order under Section 73 dated 02.12.2023 passed by the Respondnet bearing Reference No.ZD291223002870P for the tax period April 2018 to March 2019 along with the Summary of the order in Form GST DRC-07, herein enclosed and marked as Annexure-A2. c) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the Summary of Rectification passed by the Respondent dated 02.12.2023 u/s 73 of the KGST/CGST and Acts, 2017. Digitally signed order of adjudication dated 06.12.2023 passed by the Respondent bearing No.CTO(P)LGSTO- 025/2023-24, herein enclosed and marked as Annexure-A3. NC: 2025:KHC:16421 d) And pass such other orders as this Hon'ble Court deems fit and proper in the interest of justice and equity.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned HCGP for the respondent and perused the material on record.
In addition to reiterating the various contentions urged in the petition and referring to the material on record, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that pursuant to pre-intimation dated 03.08.2023 and show cause notice dated 08.05.2024, the petitioner could not submit reply due to bonafide reasons, unavoidable circumstances and sufficient cause and as such the respondent proceeded to pass the impugned exparte adjudication order dated 02.12.2023 which is assailed in the present petition. It is submitted that if the impugned adjudication order is set aside and the matter remitted back to the respondent for reconsideration a fresh to the stage of the petitioner submitting a reply to the show cause notice, the petitioner would submit a reply along with documents and the respondent may be directed to reconsider the matter a fresh and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law. NC: 2025:KHC:16421
Per contra, learned HCGP submits that there is no brief in the petition and the same is liable to be dismissed.
A perusal of the impugned order will indicate that despite the respondent having issued the aforesaid show cause notice, the petitioner did not submit his reply resultantly the respondent proceeded to pass the impugned exparte adjudication order. In this context, in the light of the assertion on the part of the petitioner that his inability and omission to submit reply 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 set aside the impugned adjudication order at Annexure-A1 dated 02.12.2023 as well as Annexures-A2 and A3 and remit the matter back to the respondent for reconsideration a fresh in accordance with law.
In the result the following:
ORDER (i) The petition is allowed. (ii) The order of adjudication dated 02.12.2023 at Annexure-A1, the order under Section 73 dated 02.12.2023 at Annexure-A2 and digitally signed NC: 2025:KHC:16421 order of adjudication dated 06.12.2023 at Annexure-A3 are hereby set aside. (iii) The matter is remitted back to the respondent for reconsideration a fresh in accordance with law. (iv) The petitioner undertakes to appear before the respondent on 19.05.2025 without awaiting further notice from the respondent. (v) The respondent shall proceed from the stage of the petitioner submitting his reply to the show cause notice dated 08.05.2024 and proceed further in accordance with law after providing sufficient and reasonable opportunity to the petitioner to file his reply, documents etc., and contest the proceedings (vi) It is further made clear that in the event petitioner does not appear before the respondent on 19.05.2025, the present order shall stand automatically recalled/cancelled and the present petition shall stand revived/restored without further orders and without reference to the Bench. (S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR) JUDGE NS CT:TSM, List No.: 1 Sl No.: 7
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.