Non-appearance for personal hearing on date fixed by GST Officer is not violation of natural justice

TSN Old Iron Scrap Mechants Vs Deputy Assistant Commissioner of State Tax (Andhra Pradesh High Court)

Introduction: The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in TSN Old Iron Scrap Mechants v. Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of State Tax [Writ Petition No. 32206 of 2023 December 15, 2023], ruled that an assessee’s non-appearance for a personal hearing on the date fixed by a GST Officer does not constitute a violation of natural justice.

Hon’ble Andhra Pradesh High Court held that even though the copy of the information received was not supplied but the contents were disclosed to the assessee in the Show Cause Notice (“SCN”).  The Assessee had no justifiable reason for not appearing for personal hearing on date fixed. The Assessee had statutory alternative remedy of appeal and the writ petition was dismissed. This article delves into the details of the case, examining the facts, issues, and the court’s verdict.

Facts:

TSN Old Iron Scrap Merchants (“the Petitioner”) were issued a SCN issued on May 27, 2023 where it was mentioned that a letter was sent to NAHI vide reference 6th cited i.e. March 1, 2023 for passing tollgate data, the same data was received from them and on the same basis the Order (“Impugned Order”) was passed under Section 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”) on August 3, 2023. However, the information or the report so received from NAHI was not supplied to the Petitioner.

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