Sangeeta Goel Widow of Late Ashok Kumar Goyal Vs Sales Tax Officer (Delhi High Court)
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has set aside a GST demand order issued against a taxpayer, Sangeeta Goel (trading as M/s Shri Balaji Enterprises), citing a failure by the tax authorities to consider her reply to the show cause notice and denying her a personal hearing before passing the order.
The petitioner had approached the High Court challenging a show cause notice dated November 30, 2023, the subsequent order dated April 26, 2024, and a rectification order dated July 18, 2024. Additionally, the petition also questioned the validity of Notification No. 9/2023-Central Tax, issued on March 31, 2023, by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. This notification was relevant as it pertained to the extension of time limits under the GST Act.
The court noted that the validity of Notification No. 9/2023, along with Notification No. 56/2023 (Central Tax and State Tax), was already a subject of extensive litigation across various High Courts in the country. The Delhi High Court itself had been considering a batch of petitions challenging these notifications, with the lead case being DJST Traders Pvt. Ltd. vs. Union of India and Ors. (W.P.(C) 16499/2023).
During previous hearings in the batch matters, the court was apprised of the divergent views taken by different High Courts regarding the validity of these notifications. The Allahabad High Court had upheld the validity of Notification No. 9/2023, while the Patna High Court had upheld Notification No. 56/2023. In contrast, the Guwahati High Court had quashed Notification No. 56/2023 (Central Tax). The Telangana High Court, without directly ruling on the validity, had made observations suggesting invalidity regarding Notification No. 56/2023 (Central Tax).
