Snehashis Dutta Vs Union of India $ Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
Audit Settled u/s 65(6); ASMT-12 Issued; SCN Ignored Reply; Adjudication Order Set Aside for Fresh Decision
The Calcutta High Court has set aside an order dated December 14, 2023, issued by a Goods and Services Tax (GST) proper officer against Snehashis Dutta, concerning the tax period from April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018. The petitioner challenged the order under Section 73 of the WBGST/CGST Act, 2017, arguing that the officer ignored his reply to a show-cause notice.
During proceedings, the petitioner’s counsel, Mr. Ray, submitted that audit issues for financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20, including short/non-reversal of input tax credit for 2017-18, had been resolved. He highlighted that the petitioner’s response to a Section 61 notice, dated June 6, 2022, was accepted, and a letter from July 4, 2022, in Form ASMT-12, stated no further action was required.
Despite this, a fresh notice in Form GST DRC 01 was issued on September 8, 2023, for the same period (July 2017 to March 2018). The petitioner responded on October 18, 2023, detailing the prior resolutions. However, the impugned order recorded that no reply was submitted.
The Court noted the electronic acknowledgment of the petitioner’s reply, which was uploaded on the common portal in Form GST DRC-6. Given this, the Court determined that the matter warranted re-adjudication.
