Ms Nexas Electrotech Private Limited vs. State Of Haryana And Anr

Facts

The petitioner, M/s. Nexas Electrotech Pvt. Ltd., filed a writ petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the validity of service of a notice and an order-in-original. The petitioner contended that uploading these documents on the common GST portal under the tab ‘View Additional Notices and Orders’ did not constitute proper service. The respondents were the State of Haryana and another authority. The specific tax period(s) and the amount in dispute were not explicitly stated in the provided text. The procedural history indicates that the petitioner is seeking relief based on the manner of service of official communications.

Held

The Court held that service of a Show Cause Notice (SCN) upon the petitioner/assessee cannot be deemed sufficient merely on account of its uploading on the Common Portal, unless its receipt is acknowledged or a reply is filed. If an SCN is served only by uploading it on the Common Portal and an ex parte order is passed in the absence of a reply, the proceedings would stand restored to the stage of issuance of the SCN. The petitioner would then be at liberty to file a reply within four weeks, after which the Department shall proceed further after affording an opportunity of hearing. In cases where the order-in-original is passed after contest and served only by uploading on the Common Portal, the period of limitation for filing an appeal would not be triggered, and the assessee would have the right to file an appeal within four weeks. If appeals filed against such orders were dismissed on the ground of limitation, the Appellate Court's order would be set aside, and the appeal would be restored and heard on merits. The Court relied on its previous decision in CWP-27139-2025 titled Luxmi Traders v/s Union Territory of Chandigarh and Others.

Key Issues

1. Whether uploading of a notice and an order-in-original on the common GST portal (www.gst.gov.in) under the tab ‘View Additional Notices and Orders’ amounts to proper service of such documents on the petitioner, in light of Section 169 read with Section 146 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017? The petitioner argued that such uploading does not constitute proper service. The revenue contended that service by uploading on the common portal cannot be discarded if the person concerned has knowledge of it and has contested the proceedings by filing a reply. In such cases, the show cause notice (SCN) cannot be said to have not been served. The revenue further argued that where the SCN has been responded to and an order-in-original is passed after contest, the order cannot be challenged merely due to a defect in service by uploading on the common portal.