Elesh Agrawal Vs Union of India (Allahabad High Court)
The Hon’ble Allahabad High Court in Elesh Agrawal v. Union of India [WRIT TAX NO. 753 OF 2023 dated May 31, 2023] disposed the petition and held that in case where assessee has disputes all the facts and allegation stated in the show cause notice the requirement of issuance of DRC-01A would be mere formality however, if issuance of DRC-01A would have serviced any benefit to the assessee, it would have been imperative for the court to enforce such notice on the Revenue Authorities.
Facts:
Elesh Agrawal (“the Petitioner”) was served with a Form DRC- 01 (Show cause notice no. 59/2022-23) dated February 24 ,2023 (“the Impugned SCN”) demanding total penalty for INR 1,05,05,00,498/- under Section 142(1A) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”) and INR 25,000 under Section 142 (3) (a) and (d) of the CGST Act 2017 each respectively.
The Petitioner contended that the Revenue Authorities has not issued Form DRC- 01A before serving the Impugned SCN moreover, the Revenue Authority has not been uploaded the Impugned SCN on the GST portal.
The Petitioner further contended that by virtue of Section 74(5) of the CGST Act the Revenue Department was bound to allow the Petitioner opportunity to pay up the alleged defaulted amount together with penalties on self-assessed basis and if that amount were to be paid by the Petitioner, no adjudication proceeding may arise.
Issue:
Whether issuance of the Impugned SCN without intimation of liability in Form DRC-01A is sustainable?
Held:
The Hon’ble Allahabad High Court in WRIT TAX NO. 753 OF 2023 held as under:
