Tanishka Steel Vs Commissioner Delhi Goods And Service Tax And Others (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court has set aside a show cause notice (SCN) and the subsequent ex-parte order passed against Tanishka Steel for the financial year 2019-20. The court found that the taxpayer likely missed the SCN because it was uploaded to a specific, potentially non-obvious location on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) portal, namely the ‘Additional Notices Tab’, thereby denying the petitioner a proper opportunity to respond and be heard on the merits of the case.
Tanishka Steel had filed a writ petition challenging the SCN issued on May 28, 2024, and the consequent order dated August 27, 2024, passed by the GST authorities. The petitioner also challenged the constitutional validity of Notification No. 9/2023-Central Tax, dated March 31, 2023, and Notification No. 56/2023- Central Tax, dated December 28, 2023. These notifications were issued under Section 168A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, to extend the time limits for completing assessment and adjudication proceedings.
The court noted that the challenge to the validity of these notifications was part of a broader legal debate and was being heard in a batch of petitions before the Delhi High Court, with the lead case being W.P.(C) 16499/2023 titled DJST Traders Pvt. Ltd. vs. Union of India and Ors. The core challenge to the notifications revolved around the procedure followed for extending the deadlines, specifically whether the recommendations of the GST Council were obtained prior to the issuance of the notifications as mandated by Section 168A. While Notification No. 9 was challenged on grounds related to the recommendation timing, Notification No. 56 faced the more pointed allegation that the GST Council’s ratification was granted after the notification was issued, contrary to the statutory requirement for a prior recommendation, even though the notification incorrectly stated otherwise. Similar challenges were also noted regarding corresponding State Tax notifications issued after the expiry of previous limitation periods.
