Shahedabegum Irshadahmed Chaudhary Vs State of Gujarat & Anr. (Gujarat High Court)
The Gujarat High Court allowed the petition filed by the legal heir and wife of Late Irshadahmed Chaudhary, proprietor of Ideal Steel Corporation, challenging a GST notice dated 26.06.2025 and order dated 04.12.2025 issued in the name of the deceased taxpayer.
The proprietor, whose business involved trading in metal scrap and was registered under GSTIN 24AERPC6697J1ZW, died on 29.07.2020. His proprietorship registration was subsequently cancelled on 03.03.2021, with nil demands being assessed for failure to file GST returns for six consecutive months. The business was not continued after his death.
Despite his death, the authorities issued a pre-show-cause intimation under Section 74(5) of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 on 24.06.2025, proposing tax liability of ₹21,49,414 along with interest and penalty for FY 2018-19. A notice under Section 74(1) in FORM DRC-01 followed on 26.06.2025, and an order in FORM DRC-07 dated 04.12.2025 confirmed the proposed demand in the absence of a response.
The petitioner submitted that the proceedings were initiated against a dead person. She relied on Section 74(1) and Section 2(84) of the GGST Act, contending that the statutory reference to the “person chargeable with tax” did not permit the impugned proceedings to be issued against the deceased proprietor.
