Tvl.Anand Transports Vs Assistant Commissioner (ST) (Madras High Court)
The Madras High Court disposed of two connected writ petitions arising from proceedings under the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the tax period April 2019 to March 2020. One writ petition challenged an original assessment order dated 24 August 2024 passed under Section 73 pursuant to a show cause notice in Form DRC-01, while the other related to subsequent rectification proceedings. The Court noted that the petitioner had applied for rectification of the original order, which was partly allowed by an order dated 18 March 2025 passed under Section 161. By virtue of this rectification order, the entire demand confirmed under the original order stood reversed and substituted with a fresh tax demand of ₹3,85,35,356 on a different basis.
The Court held that once the rectification order was passed, the original order dated 24 August 2024 stood obliterated and could not independently survive. Consequently, a writ petition challenging the original order was rendered infructuous and devoid of merit. The Court observed that if the petitioner was aggrieved, the appropriate challenge ought to have been directed against the rectification order dated 18 March 2025 or the subsequent rejection of the rectification application dated 31 March 2025, either by way of a writ or by filing a statutory appeal under Section 107 within the prescribed time.
