M/S Shri Ram Traders vs. Union Of INDIA

Held

The High Court held that if the petitioner's claim of non-service of the show cause notice is correct, they have the remedy of filing an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) under Section 107 of the MPGST Act. The Court expressed hope that if the issue of non-service is verified and found to be true, the appellate authority would address it in accordance with the law. The Court also directed that the period spent during the pendency of the writ petition would be excluded while computing the period of limitation for filing the appeal. The writ petition was disposed of with these directions.

Facts

The petitioner, M/s Shri Ram Traders, has filed a writ petition challenging an order of assessment passed by the respondent/State Tax Officer under Section 74 of the Madhya Pradesh Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017. The petitioner contends that the assessment order was made ex-parte as they were not served with a show cause notice. The petition was heard by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Gwalior.

Key Issues

1. Whether the assessment order passed under Section 74 of the Madhya Pradesh Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017, is invalid due to the alleged non-service of a show cause notice on the petitioner? Petitioner's contention: The petitioner argues that the assessment order is bad in law as it was passed ex-parte without proper service of the show cause notice. They assert that this procedural lapse vitiates the entire assessment process. Revenue's contention: No specific arguments were recorded for the respondent revenue as they were not represented before the Court.