Marella Siva Narayana Vs Assistant Commissioner of State Tax (Andhra Pradesh High Court)
GST Assessment Order Set Aside for Absence of Assessing Officer’s Signature: Andhra Pradesh HC
The petitioner challenged a Summary of the Order in FORM GST DRC-07 dated 22.11.2025, passed by the first respondent under the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the period April 2021 to March 2022.
The petitioner questioned the assessment order on various grounds, including that it did not contain the signature of the assessing officer. The learned Government Pleader for Commercial Tax, on instructions, admitted that the impugned assessment order did not bear the assessing officer’s signature.
The Court referred to its earlier decision in V. Bhanoji Row Vs. The Assistant Commissioner (ST), where a Division Bench had held that an assessment order must bear the signature of the assessing officer and that Sections 160 and 169 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 would not cure such a defect. The Court noted that this view was followed by another Division Bench in M/s. SRK Enterprises Vs. Assistant Commissioner, which set aside an unsigned assessment order. The Court further referred to M/s. SRS Traders Vs. The Assistant Commissioner ST & ors, in which another Division Bench again held that the absence of the assessing officer’s signature rendered the assessment order invalid and set it aside.
