Vardhaman Gold Vs State of Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh High Court)
Summary: The Andhra Pradesh High Court considered whether the tax authorities could finalise a GST audit and proceed on the basis of the resulting audit report when the registered person had not been afforded the statutory period contemplated by Section 65(3) of the Andhra Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the reply to the audit discrepancies had not been considered before finalisation. M/s. Vardhaman Gold challenged the Form GST ADT-02 audit findings dated 29.09.2023 and the consequential Form GST DRC-01 notice proposing action under Section 73/74, relating to financial years 2017-2018 to 2021-2022. The petitioner contended that although the notice was dated 04.09.2023, the revised notice was uploaded/served on 14.09.2023, leaving no clear period of not less than 15 working days before the audit was finalised on 29.09.2023. It was also contended that the petitioner’s reply dated 28.09.2023 was within the statutory period and ought to have been considered. The Court examined Section 65(3), which requires notice of not less than fifteen working days before conduct of audit, and Rule 101(4), which contemplates consideration of the registered person’s reply before the proper officer finalises the audit findings.
