Ashwani Kumar Pandey Vs State of U.P (Allahabad High Court)
The writ petition was filed before the Allahabad High Court challenging a demand order dated 24.04.2024 passed under Sections 50 and 122 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the tax period April 2018 to March 2019. The impugned order raised a demand of ₹55,42,604.52 against a proprietor who had died on 06.02.2021. The petitioner is the son of the deceased proprietor of M/s Pandey Iron Dealer.
After the proprietor’s death, an application for cancellation of GST registration was made and the registration was cancelled on 27.06.2023. Despite having knowledge of the death and cancellation, the authorities issued a show cause notice dated 21.05.2024 and subsequently passed an ex parte order dated 21.08.2024 under Section 74 of the Act. Both the notice and the order were uploaded on the GST portal and were not communicated to the legal heirs. The wife of the deceased proprietor had also passed away, leaving the petitioner as the surviving legal heir.
The petitioner contended that initiation of proceedings against a deceased person was void and bad in law, particularly when the authorities were informed of the death. Reliance was placed on the Division Bench judgment in Amit Kumar Sethia (Deceased) vs State of U.P., which interpreted Section 93 of the Act. The Court reiterated that while Section 93 deals with the liability of legal representatives to pay tax, it does not authorize determination of tax against a deceased person. It was held that issuance of a show cause notice to the legal representative is a sine qua non before any determination can be made.
