Som Fragrances Private Limited Vs State of U.P And 2 Others (Allahabad High Court)
Allahabad High Court has set aside an ex-parte assessment order against Som Fragrances Private Limited, a company involved in trading unserviceable store goods under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act. The court found that the assessing officer’s order, which imposed tax liability, interest, and penalty, was passed without proper service of a show cause notice, thereby violating the principles of natural justice.
Som Fragrances had challenged the appellate order dated March 26, 2025, which upheld the original assessment order from December 30, 2023. The petitioner argued that the reminder show cause notice was never physically served or brought to their knowledge. They only became aware of the proceedings when the order was uploaded to the GST portal under the “view additional notices and orders” tab, by which time they had missed the opportunity to respond.
The petitioner also claimed that the December 30, 2023, order was not communicated via email. Upon discovering the order in February 2025, Som Fragrances filed a statutory appeal, which was subsequently rejected by the first appellate authority as time-barred.
Core Arguments: Lack of Notice and Denied Appeal
Som Fragrances presented a two-pronged argument:
1. The absence of proper service of the reminder notice denied them the opportunity to present their defense and justify their exemption from tax liability on their trading and sale business under GST.
2. The denial of their appeal on grounds of delay, directly attributable to their lack of knowledge about the order, left them without a remedy.
Judicial Precedents Affirm Natural Justice
