Arangath Parambil Mohammed Mohammed Shabeer Vs State Tax Officer (Kerala High Court)
Kerala High Court held that order simply proceeded due to non-submission of reply to show cause notice issued under section 74 of the CGST/SGST Act not justified. Accordingly, matter restored back for fresh consideration.
Facts- The petitioner is a registered person under the CGST/SGST Acts. In respect of some transactions of the petitioner for the year 2018-2019, a notice in Form GST ASMT-10 was issued to the petitioner on 22-01-2021. The petitioner did not submit any reply to the said notice, prompting the issuance of a reminder on 26-08-2023. On 15-09-2023, the petitioner submitted a reply.
After considering the reply filed by the petitioner on 15-09-2023 and following the personal hearing held on 26-08-2023, the officer proceeded to issue a show cause notice u/s. 73 of the CGST/SGST Acts on 22-12-2023. The proceedings u/s. 73 of the CGST/SGST Acts culminated in an order issued on 18-01-2024 by dropping one of the issues raised in the show cause notice and stating that in respect of the other issue, proceedings u/s. 74 of the CGST/SGST Acts are being issued, as it was felt that the case of the petitioner was one of suppression. A notice u/s. 74 of the CGST/SGST Acts was issued to the petitioner on 08-01-2024, to which admittedly the petitioner did not file any reply. The proceedings u/s. 74 of the CGST/SGST Acts culminated in impugned order.
