S.B. Enterprises Vs Directorate General of GST Intelligence (Jharkhand High Court)
Summary: The Jharkhand High Court considered a challenge to an order-in-original dated 23rd January, 2026 passed against Late Shibu Prasad Das, the sole proprietor of M/s S.B. Enterprises, despite his death on 15th September, 2020. The writ petition was filed through his son, Monty Kumar, who represented the proprietary concern.
The petitioner submitted that the respondents were aware of the proprietor’s death but nevertheless passed the order against him. It was contended that an order made against a dead person was a nullity and could not be enforced against his representative. Reliance was also placed on an earlier order dated 24th January, 2025 in W.P.(T) No.265 of 2025, where a coordinate Bench of the Court had stayed further proceedings pursuant to a similar order-in-original made after the death of Shibu Prasad Das. The petitioner pointed out that the same respondents had been heard in that earlier proceeding.
The respondents contended that the order had been made against a proprietary firm which continued to survive. They also submitted that there was nothing on record showing that the department had been specifically informed about the proprietor’s death.
The High Court found the impugned order-in-original dated 23rd January, 2026 vulnerable because it had been made against a dead person. The Court expressly declined, at that stage, to enter into the disputed question of whether specific intimation of the death had been given to the department. However, it considered the earlier order dated 24th January, 2025 significant because it had been passed after hearing the very same respondents.
