Case Law Details
APN Sales And Marketing Vs Union of India & Anr. (Delhi High Court)
The Delhi High Court ruled in favor of APN Sales & Marketing, setting aside a GST demand order amounting to ₹19,62,334 for the financial year 2018-19. The order was issued under Section 73 of the Central and Delhi Goods and Services Tax Acts, following a Show Cause Notice (SCN) dated 08.12.2023. The petitioner argued that it had not received the SCN, as it was only uploaded on the GST portal under the ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ tab, leading to procedural lapses in due process. The petitioner initially sought to challenge Notification No. 9/2023-Central Tax dated 31.03.2023 but later limited the petition to contesting the order dated 28.02.2024.
During the hearing, the respondent’s counsel acknowledged that similar cases had been decided in favor of petitioners in M/s ACE Cardiopathy Solutions Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India and Kamla Vohra Sales Tax Officer Class II. Considering this precedent, the court quashed the GST demand order and remanded the case to the adjudicating authority for fresh consideration. The court directed that the petitioner be given an opportunity to present its case before any further action is taken. The petition was disposed of accordingly.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF DELHI HIGH COURT
1. Exemption is allowed, subject to all just exceptions.
2. The application stands disposed of.
3. Issue notice.
4. The learned counsel appearing for the respondents accepts notice.
5. The petitioner has filed the present petition, inter alia, praying as under:
“a) issue any appropriate writ to declare the impugned Notification No. 9/2023-Central tax dated 31.03.2023 ultra vires and unconstitutional;
b) issue any appropriate writ to set aside the impugned show cause notice dated 08.12.2023;
c) issue any appropriate writ to set aside the impugned order dated 28.02.2024;
d) issue any other writ, order or direction which this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case.”
6. Although, the petitioner has challenged the Notification No.9/2023 Central Tax dated 31.03.2023 as well as the Show Cause Notice dated 08.12.2023, the learned counsel for the petitioner has confined this petition to challenging the order dated 28.02.2024 (hereafter the impugned order). The adjudicating authority has passed the impugned order under Section 73 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017/Delhi Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 in respect of the financial year 2018-19 confirming a demand of ₹19,62,334/-. The said order was passed pursuant to a Show Cause Notice dated 08.12.2023 (hereafter the impugned SCN). The petitioner submits that the impugned SCN was not received by it. Apparently, the impugned SCN was projected on the petitioner’s GST portal under the tab ‘Additional Notices and Orders’.
7. Mr Singhvi, learned counsel appearing for the respondents fairly states that the issue is covered in favour of the petitioner by the decisions of this Court in M/s ACE Cardiopathy Solutions Private Limited v. Union of India & Ors.: Neutral Citation No.2024:DHC:4108-DB as well as Kamla Vohra Sales Tax Officer Class II: Neutral Citation No.2024:DHC:5108- DB.
8. In view of the above, we set aside the impugned order and remand the matter to the adjudicating authority for consideration afresh after affording the petitioner an opportunity to be heard.
The petition is disposed of in the aforesaid terms. The application is also disposed of.
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