Anil Kumar (since deceased) through his LRs Vs State of Punjab and others (Punjab and Haryana High Court)
Summary: The Punjab and Haryana High Court considered a writ petition challenging GST proceedings initiated against late Anil Kumar, sole proprietor of M/s Gauri Shankar Trading Company. The petitioner was aggrieved by the show cause notice dated December 19, 2023, issued in Form GST DRC-01 under Section 73 of the CGST Act, 2017 in relation to financial year 2018-2019, pursuant to alleged discrepancies in the return and a liability of Rs.9,32,513/-. The petitioner also challenged the final order dated April 22, 2024, in Form GST DRC-07, passed under Section 73(9) of the PGST Act, 2017, whereby Rs.9,59,678/- was sought to be recovered from M/s Gauri Shankar Trading Company on account of an alleged excess claim of Input Tax Credit (ITC).
The petitioner submitted that Anil Kumar had died on May 10, 2020, and therefore the show cause notice having been issued against a deceased person, together with the consequential proceedings, was null and void. It was further submitted that, following his death, his heirs had applied for cancellation of the GST registration on September 28, 2020. The registration was subsequently cancelled by order dated April 15, 2021, with effect from June 30, 2020. According to the petitioner, despite the authorities being aware of the cancellation, recovery proceedings were initiated against a person who was no longer alive.
