Baskar Selvakumar Vs Assistant Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise (Madras High Court)
The Madras High Court considered a writ petition challenging an order dated 24.11.2025 passed by the GST authority for the financial year 2024–25. The petitioner contended that Sections 73 and 74 of the GST Act stood omitted with effect from 01.04.2024 and that only Section 74A applied for financial years 2024–25 onwards. Despite this, the respondent had issued a show cause notice and passed an assessment order under Section 74, rendering the proceedings without jurisdiction. The respondent fairly admitted that the proceedings were wrongly initiated under Section 74 instead of Section 74A and sought remand.
The Court agreed that Sections 73 and 74 were no longer applicable from 01.04.2024 and that proceedings for FY 2024–25 must be under Section 74A. It held that the show cause notice and assessment order were issued without jurisdiction and that the subsequent rectification through the impugned order dated 24.11.2025 was done without providing an opportunity to the petitioner. Consequently, the Court set aside the impugned order and remanded the matter.
To avoid delay and inconvenience, the Court directed the petitioner to treat the impugned order as a notice under Section 74A and file a reply with documents within four weeks. The respondent was directed to consider the reply, issue a clear 14-day notice fixing a personal hearing, and thereafter pass appropriate orders on merits in accordance with law. The writ petition was disposed of with these directions, without costs.
