Hindustan Pipes Sales Vs State of U.P. and another (Allahabad High Court)
The Allahabad High Court has provided relief to Hindustan Pipes Sales by quashing a demand order issued under Section 73 of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The primary reason for this decision was that the notices related to the demand were not uploaded under the designated “Due Notices and Orders” tab on the GST portal. Instead, they were incorrectly uploaded under the “Additional Notices and Orders” tab. Consequently, Hindustan Pipes Sales argued that they remained unaware of the issuance of these crucial notices and the subsequent demand order, preventing them from appearing before the authority or challenging the order within the stipulated limitation period.
The court noted a similar precedent in the case of Ola Fleet Technologies Pvt. Ltd. v. State of U.P., where a coordinate bench had addressed the same issue of notices being uploaded under the incorrect tab. In the Ola Fleet Technologies case, the court had concluded that the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of doubt and had remanded the matter back to the authority for fresh proceedings. In the present case, the counsel for the Department did not dispute the petitioner’s contention regarding the incorrect uploading of notices and orders, acknowledging that the issue was indeed covered by the Ola Fleet Technologies judgment. Following this precedent, the Allahabad High Court quashed the impugned demand order dated April 16, 2024. The court granted liberty to the Assessing Officer to issue a fresh notice to Hindustan Pipes Sales, ensuring a clear notice period of at least fifteen days, after which further proceedings in accordance with the law can be initiated.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT
