M/S Dhanjal Mechanical Works Through Its Proprietor Sh Deep Singh vs. State Of Punjab And Others

Facts

The petitioner, M/s. Dhanjal Mechanical Works, 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 (www.gst.gov.in) under the 'View Additional Notices and Orders' tab did not constitute proper service. The State of Punjab and others were the respondents. The core of the dispute revolved around the interpretation of Section 169 read with Section 146 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, concerning the mode of service of notices and orders.

Held

The Court held that service of a Show Cause Notice (SCN) upon the petitioner/assessee cannot be deemed sufficient solely 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 on the Common Portal and an ex parte order-in-original is passed without a reply, the proceedings are to be restored to the stage of SCN issuance. The petitioner would then have four weeks to file a reply, after which the Department must proceed after affording a hearing opportunity. In cases where the order-in-original was passed after contest and served only by uploading, the limitation period for appeal would not be triggered, and the assessee would have four weeks from the judgment date to file an appeal. If appeals against such orders were dismissed for limitation, those appellate orders would be set aside, and the appeals restored for hearing on merits. The Court relied on its prior 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 under the 'View Additional Notices and Orders' tab amounts to proper service on the petitioner, in terms 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 deemed not served. The revenue further argued that if the SCN has been responded to and an order-in-original passed after contest, the order-in-original cannot be challenged merely due to a defect in service by uploading on the common portal.