Pedda Masthan Enterprises Vs Assistant Commissioner ST (Andhra Pradesh High Court)
The writ petition challenged the assessment order dated 28.10.2023 and the summary order in Form DRC-07 dated 26.12.2024 passed by the Assistant Commissioner for the period August 2022 to February 2023 under the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The petitioner, a registered dealer engaged in trading ferrous wastes, scrap, and re-melting scrap ingots of iron and steel, was issued a pre-show cause notice in Form DRC-01A dated 25.05.2023 and a show cause notice in Form DRC-01 dated 05.07.2023 proposing assessment under Section 74 and penalty under Section 122(2)(ii).
The petitioner contended that its GST registration had been cancelled on 05.08.2023 with effect from 30.06.2023 and that it was pursuing appeals relating to earlier assessment periods. It argued that the assessment order was invalid because the summary in Form DRC-07 was issued later on 26.12.2024. It was further contended that the assessment order lacked the signature of the authority and the summary order did not contain a Document Identification Number (DIN), which was claimed to be mandatory under Circular No.122/41/2019-GST dated 05.11.2019.
The Government Pleader submitted that the assessment order was passed in October 2023 and uploaded on the portal. Even taking the summary order dated 26.12.2024 for limitation purposes, there was a delay of more than one year in filing the writ petition, and no explanation was offered for such delay. It was also submitted that despite cancellation of registration, the petitioner could access the portal, as the assessment related to a period prior to cancellation.
