Dhaneswar Kalita Vs State of Assam And 2 Ors. (Gauhati High Court)
The Gauhati High Court considered a writ petition challenging the validity of proceedings initiated under the GST law and the order dated 23 April 2024 passed against the petitioner. The petitioner had been issued a Summary of Show Cause Notice dated 11 December 2023 in Form GST DRC-01. The summary stated that a Show Cause Notice was attached. However, the attachment only contained a determination of tax and did not include any actual Show Cause Notice. Consequently, the petitioner did not submit a reply because the alleged Show Cause Notice was not provided.
Subsequently, an order was issued on 23 April 2024 in Form GST DRC-07. The attachment to the order explained the basis of the tax determination and stated that the taxpayer had not responded to the notice and therefore was deemed to have accepted the contents of the notice. The petitioner also pointed out that the attachments to both the summary of the notice in DRC-01 and the order in DRC-07 did not contain the signature of the Proper Officer. The petitioner further contended that no opportunity of personal hearing had been granted before passing the order, as required under Section 75(4) of the CGST/AGST Act, 2017.
