K M R International Vs State of U.P. And Another (Allahabad High Court)
Allahabad High Court set aside a GST adjudication order passed against the petitioner after finding that mandatory principles of natural justice had been violated. The petitioner’s registration under the UPGST Act had been cancelled with effect from March 31, 2021, and was never revived. Despite this, the department proceeded to issue show cause notices electronically through the GST portal for the tax period July 2017 to March 2018 and subsequently passed an order under Section 74 of the GST Act on December 1, 2022. The Court observed that since the registration was cancelled, the petitioner could not be expected to access or receive notices via the GST portal, and the department had not demonstrated that any physical notice was served. Holding that the petitioner was denied a fair opportunity to present its case, the High Court quashed the impugned order. It allowed the petitioner four weeks to file a reply to the show cause notice and directed the department to pass a fresh order after providing a personal hearing, preferably within three months. The ruling underscores that authorities must ensure proper service of notices even where registration has been cancelled, and failure to do so constitutes a breach of natural justice.
