Mohd. Naseem Khan Vs State of Madhya Pradesh And Others (Madhya Pradesh High Court)
The Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed a writ petition challenging an order passed under Section 74 of the CGST Act for the financial year 2018-19. The petitioner, running a restaurant business under a proprietorship firm, had received notices alleging mismatch between GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B returns. A notice under Section 61 sought tax of Rs.34.34 lakh, followed by a DRC-01 notice under Section 74 demanding tax, interest, and penalty. The petitioner did not respond to either notice, claiming unawareness as the notices were uploaded on the GST portal. An ex parte order dated 11.04.2023 confirmed the demand. The appeal filed before the appellate authority was dismissed as time-barred and for non-compliance with the mandatory pre-deposit requirement. The petitioner argued before the High Court that the demand exceeded the amount specified in the show-cause notice and violated Section 75(7) of the Act. The Court held that the petitioner failed to establish lack of knowledge of notices, remained negligent in pursuing statutory remedies, failed to seek condonation of delay, and could not invoke writ jurisdiction to bypass statutory remedies and pre-deposit requirements. The Court also noted that the petitioner had an alternative remedy before the GST Tribunal. Accordingly, the writ petition was dismissed.
