Sunil Kumar K Vs State Tax Officer (Kerala High Court)
The Kerala High Court considered a writ appeal challenging the dismissal of a writ petition against an assessment order communicated through the GST common portal. The appellant contended that the assessment order was uploaded on the portal notified under Section 146 of the CGST Act, and since uploading of orders was not specifically mentioned as a notified purpose under that provision, the communication was invalid. It was argued that the portal was meant only for registration, payment of tax, filing returns, and other specified functions.
The learned Single Judge found that the appellant had, albeit belatedly, downloaded the assessment order from the same portal and that the delay was attributable to his own lapse. The petitioner was relegated to the alternate remedy under Section 107 of the GST Act.
The Division Bench held that Section 169 of the Act expressly permits service of decisions, orders, and notices by making them available on the common portal. When read with Section 146 and the amended notification—retrospectively effective from 22.06.2017—the portal could validly be used for such communications. The writ appeal was dismissed.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF KERALA HIGH COURT
The petitioner in WP(C).No. 6240 of 2024 is the appellant herein aggrieved by the judgment dated 20.03.2024 of the learned Single Judge in the Writ Petition.
