Rajendra Modi vs. State Of Jharkhand, Through Commissioner Of State Tax, Commercial Tax Department

Held

The Court held that Annexures 2 and 3, the show cause notice in Form GST DRC-01 and the summary of order in Form GST DRC-07, were liable to be set aside due to the absence of the required signature, seal, or digital signature by the issuing authority. The Court noted that while the respondents claimed digital signatures were applied, they failed to produce evidence of this. The Court explicitly deprecated the practice of issuing notices and orders without proper authentication, referencing Rule 26(3) of the Jharkhand Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Rules, 2017, which mandates issuance through a digital signature certificate. Consequently, Annexures 2 and 3 were set aside. The Court allowed the writ petition with costs of Rs. 10,000/- to be paid by the respondents to the petitioner. Liberty was granted to the respondents to initiate fresh proceedings in accordance with the law, ensuring proper digital signatures. All defenses raised by the petitioner were left open for consideration in any fresh proceedings. The issue of limitation was not explicitly decided but was implicitly left open for consideration in fresh proceedings.

Facts

The petitioner, Rajendra Modi, filed a writ petition challenging several orders issued by the State Tax Officer, Dhanbad Circle. The challenged orders include a show cause notice dated 30/05/2024 (Reference No. 1589) under Section 73 of the CGST/JGST Act, a show cause notice in Form GST DRC-01 dated 30/05/2024 (Reference No. ZD2005240079060), a summary of order in Form GST DRC-07 dated 30/08/2024 (Reference No. ZD2008240146100), and an issuing order dated 30/08/2024 (Order No. 561/24-25) under Section 73(9) of the JGST Act. The petitioner's primary contentions were that these notices and orders were barred by limitation and that the show cause notice and summary of order were issued without the requisite signature, seal, or digital signature of the issuing authority.

Key Issues

1. Whether the show cause notice dated 30/05/2024 (Reference No. 1589) issued by the State Tax Officer, Dhanbad Circle, under Section 73 of the CGST/JGST Act is barred by limitation? 2. Whether the show cause notice in Form GST DRC-01 dated 30/05/2024 (Reference No. ZD2005240079060) and the summary of order in Form GST DRC-07 dated 30/08/2024 (Reference No. ZD2008240146100) are liable to be quashed for want of signature, seal, or digital signature by the issuing authority, as mandated by Rule 26(3) of the Jharkhand Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Rules, 2017? Petitioner's Arguments: The petitioner argued that the impugned notices and orders were barred by limitation. Additionally, the petitioner contended that the show cause notice (Annexure 2) and the summary of order (Annexure 3) were issued without the signature, seal, or digital signature of the State Tax Officer, rendering them invalid. Respondents' Arguments: The respondents filed a counter-affidavit asserting that digital signatures were applied to the documents. However, they failed to produce the documents with the claimed digital signatures.