Atlanta Tele Cables Vs Deputy Commissioner State Goods and Services Tax (Uttarakhand High Court)
The Uttarakhand High Court examined a writ petition challenging a GST order passed after the tax authority ignored a request for adjournment of personal hearing, despite being informed that the assessee was out of the country. The petitioner had been issued a show cause notice and, after submitting a reply, requested a personal hearing. The hearing was scheduled for 28.07.2025. Prior to the scheduled date, the petitioner informed the respondent authority that he was travelling abroad.
The petitioner’s counsel produced the original passport before the Court, which showed that the petitioner had exited India on 20.07.2025 and returned on 31.07.2025. Despite being informed of this fact, the respondent authority neither granted an adjournment nor considered the request made by the petitioner. Instead, the authority proceeded to pass an adverse order against the petitioner. It was contended that this action violated Section 75 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, which permits an assessee to seek adjournment of hearing up to a maximum of three times upon showing sufficient cause.
The Court noted that the petitioner had sought only one adjournment, which was within the statutory limit. The authority’s failure to consider or decide the adjournment request, and its decision to proceed with the matter in the petitioner’s absence, was found to be contrary to law. The issue, the Court observed, was no longer res integra, as a Coordinate Bench of the same Court had already interpreted Sections 75(4) and 75(5) of the CGST Act in an earlier case.
