Famina Shopping Mail Pvt. Ltd. Vs Assistant Commissioner of GST & Central Excise (Madras High Court)
The Hon’ble Madras High Court in the case of Famina Shopping Mall (P.) Ltd. v. Assistant Commissioner of GST and Central Excise [W.P. (MD) No. 19284 of 2021 dated March 14, 2024] dismissed the writ petition and held that the officer of Directorate General of GST Intelligence (“DGGI”) is a proper officer for issuance of Show Cause Notice.
Facts:
Famina Shopping Mall (P.) Ltd. (“the Petitioner”) has filed a writ petition before the Hon’ble High Court challenging the proceedings initiated by the Revenue Department (“the Respondent”) wherein the demand was raised by the Respondent for payment of tax amount along with interest and penalty under Section 74(5) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”) failing following the search and seizure proceedings conducted by the Respondent. The Petitioner contended that, the officer issuing the pre-show cause notice i.e. officer of DGGI is not a proper officer as per circular No. 23/2021 dated 04.10.2021 passed by Commercial Tax Department of the State.
Issue:
Whether officer of DGGI is proper officer for issuance of Show Cause Notice?
Held:
The Hon’ble Madras High Court in W.P. (MD) No. 19284 of 2021 held as under:
- Noted that, as per Circular No. 31/05/2018-GST , the officer of DGGI have the power to issue show cause notice.
- Opined that, the submissions made by the Petitioner is not acceptable. Also, the Impugned proceedings are at the stage of pre-show cause notice only.
- Held that, the writ petition is dismissed.
Relevant Extract of the Circular:
