Case Law Details
Shyam Hardware Store Vs State of Jharkhand (Jharkhand High Court)
The respondents have failed to establish that the petitioner has ever ignored the directions given in the inspection report rather it appears from the entire order sheet (Annexture-3 series) that the petitioner has not only appeared on the date as prescribed in the inspection report but also on various dates as required by the adjudicating officer. At no point of time, the adjudicating officer has mentioned in the order sheet that the petitioner has failed to appear.
On the contrary, it appears from the order sheet that the adjudicating officer has mentioned that the proceeding under Sections 73, 50(1) and 125 has been initiated by the inspecting team itself; whereas from the concluding part of the inspection report it clearly transpires that the petitioner was directed to appear on 17.1.2020 before the Joint Commissioner of State Tax (Admin) Hazaribagh Division, Hazaribagh failing which proceeding under Sections 73, 50(1) and 125 of JGST Act would be initiated. The said direction nowhere elucidates that if the petitioner fails to appear, the said direction will suo-motto convert into a notice under Section 73, 50(1) and 125. Even otherwise, the averment of the respondents that the direction shall be treated as notice under Section 73 already being issued and served upon the petitioner is nothing but an attempt to misrepresent the facts and is not accepted by this Court.
In para-8 of the supplementary counter affidavit the respondents have averred that the direction in the inspection report is a deemed notice. In this regard it is pertinent to mention that in the matter where the principles of natural justice is at stake, words such as deemed, tantamount etc. hold no merit. Moreover under Rule 142 of JGST Rules, 2017 procedure of notice under Section 73 has already been prescribed; hence any other such deemed notice, can be treated no notice in the eye of law.
This Court it has been categorically held that any adjudication order is non-est in the eye of law if the same is passed without issuance of proper show-cause notice being dehors principle of natural justice. In the instant case admittedly, the procedure has not been followed.
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