M/S Sasthi Plywood vs. State Of Uttar Pradesh And Another
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The petitioner, M/s Sasthi Plywood, filed a writ petition challenging an order dated 28.02.2025 passed by the Deputy Commissioner, State Tax, Bareilly, under Section 74 of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The petitioner argued that the impugned order failed to meet the requirements of Section 75(6) of the Act, as it did not set out the relevant facts and the basis of the decision, instead incorporating the show cause notice by reference. The respondent, State of U.P., did not dispute that the issue was covered by a previous judgment of the Court in M/s Hari Shanker Transport Vs. Commissioner of Commercial Tax U.P. The petitioner sought to have the order quashed and the matter remanded back for fresh consideration.
Held
The Court held that the impugned order dated 28.02.2025, passed by the Deputy Commissioner, State Tax, Bareilly, suffers from the same defect as the order in the case of M/s Hari Shanker Transport (supra). The Court found that the order did not contain any reasons and merely incorporated the indication made in the show cause notice by reference. This failure to set out the relevant facts and the basis of the decision, as mandated by Section 75(6) of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, makes the order unsustainable. The ratio decidendi is that a final order under the GST Act must be self-contained and provide the reasoning for the decision, rather than relying solely on previous notices. Consequently, the writ petition was allowed. The order dated 28.02.2025 was quashed and set aside. The matter was remanded back to the Deputy Commissioner, State Tax, to provide the petitioner an opportunity to file a response to the show cause notice issued under Section 73 of the Act within four weeks. Thereafter, after providing an opportunity of hearing, a fresh order in accordance with law is to be passed.
Key Issues
1. Whether the order dated 28.02.2025, passed by the Deputy Commissioner, State Tax, Bareilly, under Section 74 of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, is liable to be quashed and set aside for non-compliance with the mandatory requirements of Section 75(6) of the Act. Petitioner's Contention: The petitioner contended that the impugned order suffers from the same defect as the order in the case of M/s Hari Shanker Transport (supra). Specifically, the order does not set out the relevant facts and the basis of the decision, merely incorporating the show cause notice by reference. This failure to comply with Section 75(6) renders the order unsustainable and warrants its quashing and remand. Respondent's Contention: The respondent, State of U.P., did not dispute the petitioner's contention and conceded that the issue raised was covered by the judgment in M/s Hari Shanker Transport (supra).
Sections Cited
Section 74, Section 75(6), Section 73
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:80136-DB Chief Justice's Court Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 2282 of 2025 Petitioner :- M/s Sasthi Plywood Respondent :- State of U.P. and another Counsel for Petitioner :- Pranjal Shukla, Dheeraj Dwivedi Counsel for Respondent :- Ankur Agarwal (S.C.) Hon'ble Arun Bhansali,Chief Justice Hon'ble Kshitij Shailendra,J.
This writ petition is directed against the order dated 28.02.2025 passed by the Deputy Commissioner, State Tax, Juri iction Bareilly, Sector-10, Bareilly under Section 74 of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. 2. Learned counsel with reference to judgment in M/s Hari U.P. : Writ Tax No.606 of 2025, decided on 11.03.2025, made submissions that the order impugned does not fulfill the requirement of Section 75(6) of the Act and, therefore, the order impugned deserves to be quashed and set aside and the matter be remanded back.
Learned counsel appearing for the respondents attempted to support the order impugned, however, does not dispute that the issue as raised is covered by the judgment in the case of M/s Hari Shanker Transport (supra).
In the case of M/s Hari Shanker Transport (supra), this Court, after hearing the parties, came to the following conclusion:- "
A bare look at the order impugned dated 27.04.2024 passed under Section 73(9) of the Act reveals that the same only makes reference to issuance of two notices, the fact that they have not been responded to, and a demand has been raised.
The manner of passing of order dated 27.04.2024 falls foul of the requirements of Section 75(6) of the Act, which requires that 'the proper officer, in his order shall set out the relevant facts and the basis of his decision', the statutory requirements for passing an order by setting out relevant facts and basis for the decision are totally missing from the order dated 27.04.2024. Even if no response was filed to the notices issued under Sections 61 and 73 of the Act, it was incumbent on respondent no.2 to pass an order in compliance of the provisions of Section 75(6) of the Act, as a final order should be self contained and merely making reference to the previous notices while passing the said order does not suffice for making it a self contained order.
Consequently, the petition is allowed. The order dated 27.04.2024 (Annexure-6 to the writ petition) is quashed and set aside. The matter is remanded back to respondent no.2/Deputy Commissioner, State Tax, Sector-3, Sonbhadra to provide an opportunity of filing response to the show cause notice issued under Section 73 of the Act to the petitioner, which response shall be filed within a period of four weeks from today and thereafter, after providing opportunity of hearing, a fresh order in accordance with law be passed."
Admittedly, in the present case, the order dated 28.02.2025 also does not contain any reason and only the indication made in the show cause notice has been incorporated by reference and, therefore, the said order cannot be sustained.
Consequently, the writ petition is allowed.
The order dated 28.02.2025 (Annexure-4 to the writ petition) is quashed and set aside. The matter is remanded back to respondent no.2, who shall provide an opportunity of filing response to the show cause notice issued under Section 73 of the Act to the petitioner, which response shall be filed within a period of four weeks from today and, thereafter, after providing opportunity of hearing, a fresh order in accordance with law be passed. Order Date :- 15.5.2025 RK/AKShukla (Kshitij Shailendra, J) (Arun Bhansali, CJ) RAJESH KUMAR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
Reproduced from the public record of the Allahabad High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.