Tvl. Kodeeswaran Jewellers Vs Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Madras High Court)
The Madras High Court considered a writ appeal challenging the order of a learned Single Judge, who had dismissed a writ petition filed against an assessment order dated 17.07.2025. The assessment order was passed on the ground that the appellant had wrongly availed Input Tax Credit (ITC) relating to blocked credit, resulting in the levy of interest and penalty.
The learned Single Judge dismissed the writ petition after finding that it had been filed six months after the assessment order and that the petitioner had not submitted any explanation to the show cause notice issued by the assessing authority.
Before the Division Bench, the appellant contended that although the assessment order had been uploaded on the GST common portal, it was not easily accessible because users had to navigate through several windows. It was argued that a small businessman could not be expected to constantly monitor the portal to check whether any order had been uploaded. According to the appellant, the assessment order came to its knowledge only after recovery proceedings were initiated, following which the writ petition was filed immediately. Therefore, the delay in challenging the order should not be held against the appellant.
