Arpita Motors vs. Appellate Authority

Held

The Court held that the impugned orders dated 20.12.2024 and 22.11.2023 are not sustainable. Following the law laid down by the Delhi High Court in Anhad Impex and a co-ordinate bench of this Court in Agrawal Wheels Pvt. Ltd., the Court found the orders to be unsustainable. The reasoning is based on the principle that if a notice is not effectively served or brought to the knowledge of the assessee, any subsequent order passed based on such notice would be invalid. The ratio decidendi is that proper service of notice is a prerequisite for passing a valid order under Section 74 of the GST Act. The Court quashed the impugned orders and remitted the matter back to the Deputy Commissioner of State Tax, Jurisdictional Sagar, Circle Sagar, for passing a fresh order after providing an opportunity of personal hearing to the petitioner. No issue was expressly left undecided.

Facts

The petitioner, Arpita Motors, filed a writ petition challenging a show cause notice and a final order passed under Section 74 of the GST Act. The petitioner contended that they did not receive the notice as it was displayed on the GST portal under 'View Additional Notice and Orders', which they claim did not come to their knowledge. The impugned orders were passed by the Deputy Commissioner of State Tax, Jurisdictional Sagar, Circle Sagar. The specific tax periods and the amount in dispute are not explicitly stated in the provided text. The procedural history involves the issuance of the notice and the subsequent final order, which are now under challenge.

Key Issues

1. Whether the impugned order passed under Section 74 of the GST Act is sustainable when the petitioner claims non-receipt of the show cause notice due to its display under 'View Additional Notice and Orders' on the GST portal. Petitioner's contention: The petitioner argued that the notice did not come to their knowledge because it was placed under a specific section ('View Additional Notice and Orders') on the portal, implying a lack of proper service. They relied on the decisions of the Delhi High Court in Anhad Impex vs. Assistant Commissioner and this Court in Agrawal Wheels Pvt. Ltd. vs. State of M.P. Revenue's contention: The judgment does not record any specific arguments made by the revenue or the state.