King Bricks Vs State of Bihar (Patna High Court)
The writ petition challenged an ex-parte demand order dated 29 April 2024 issued under Section 73(9) of the CGST/BGST Act for the tax period April 2018 to March 2019, creating a demand of Rs. 26,66,667.40 along with interest and penalty. The petitioner also challenged the underlying show cause notice dated 13 December 2023 issued under Section 73(1), alleging that it was not properly communicated and that no opportunity for personal hearing was provided, in violation of principles of natural justice and Section 75(4) of the Act.
The petitioner contended that the show cause notice was merely uploaded in the “additional notices and orders” tab of the GST portal instead of the appropriate “notices and orders” tab, resulting in lack of effective communication. It was further argued that neither an opportunity to respond nor a personal hearing was granted before passing the impugned ex-parte demand order.
Both parties relied on a prior judgment of the Court in Rounak Int Udyog vs. State of Bihar, where it was held that tax demands must be based on proper assessment and technical evaluation, and that adequate opportunity of hearing must be provided before passing adverse orders. In that case, the Court had set aside the impugned order and directed fresh adjudication with due process.
