Adjudicating authority having highest tax demand will adjudicate cases involving multiple parties

J. K. Enterprises Vs Superintendent (Delhi High Court)

Delhi High Court held that in cases involving multiple parties, the adjudication cannot be done by different Commissionerates, the Adjudicating Authority is fixed on the basis of the jurisdiction which has the highest amount of demand tax.

Facts- The present petition has been filed by the Petitioner through its proprietor Mr. Jai Kishan Bansal under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, inter alia, assailing the impugned Show Cause Notice dated 7th August, 2024 issued by the Superintendent, CGST, Delhi North and the impugned order dated 30th January, 2025 passed by the Superintendent, CGST, Delhi North. The case of the Department is that an investigation was conducted against 575 noticees in the jurisdiction of CGST North who had availed of fake Input Tax Credit totalling to Rs.13,16,16,906/-. The said ITC availment is alleged to have been facilitated by 16 fake firms. Notably, the common impugned SCN was issued and several recipients of the SCN filed their replies. However, the Petitioner did not file any reply. Personal hearing was also granted to the Petitioner. However, the Petitioner did not attend the same and thereafter, the impugned order has been passed.

Conclusion- Held that in cases involving multiple noticees, the adjudication cannot be done by different commissioner rates and the commissionerate is decided, depending upon the monetary demands that are proposed to be raised and the manner in which the investigation would have proceeded.