Siri Kanakadurgha Agencies Vs State of Karnataka (Karnataka High Court)
In this case concerning GST adjudication, the petitioner challenged an ex-parte order issued without granting a personal hearing, alleging violation of natural justice. The proceedings originated from an Intimation in Form DRC-01A dated 18.04.2023, followed by a Show Cause Notice (SCN) dated 05.06.2023 under Section 73(1) of the CGST/KGST Act, 2017, alleging short-declaration of output tax. The petitioner replied to the SCN on 05.09.2023 and requested a personal hearing. Despite this, the adjudication order dated 18.12.2023 confirmed a tax demand of ₹9,76,743, along with interest of ₹9,81,676 and a penalty of ₹97,674, without providing the requested hearing. Subsequently, recovery proceedings were initiated under Crl.Misc.105/2025, and the petitioner became aware of the ex-parte order only upon receiving a notice on 12.08.2025.
The petitioner contended that the ex-parte adjudication violated natural justice and deserved to be set aside. Additionally, it was argued that the proceedings were barred by limitation under Section 73(10) of the KGST Act, though the respondents maintained that the limitation period had been extended through Notifications Nos. 13/2022, 9/2023, and 56/2023. The petitioner highlighted that the validity of these notifications was under consideration by the Supreme Court in SLP (C) No. 4240/2025, which could affect the impugned proceedings.
