SC Declines GST Interference Due to Alternative Appeal Remedy, Grants Four Weeks to Appeal

Shivani Enterprise Vs Union of India & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)

Summary: The petitioner, engaged in trading of scrap, challenged proceedings arising from alleged fraudulent Input Tax Credit availed from M/s Ganpati Enterprises. Following intelligence received by the Department, a physical verification of the petitioner’s premises was conducted on 9 December 2020 under Section 67(1) of the CGST Act, and a panchnama was recorded. A Show Cause Notice dated 29 February 2024 in Form DRC-01 proposed penalties under Section 122(1)(vii) and Section 122(1)(xii), (xvi) and (xvii) of the CGST Act. The petitioner filed a reply and was granted a personal hearing, following which an Order in Original dated 30 August 2025 was served through the portal. Before the High Court, the petitioner contended principally that only three pages of the Show Cause Notice had been supplied and that, although six Relied Upon Documents (RUDs) were referred to, RUDs at serial numbers 4 to 6 had not been supplied. It was further contended that the RUDs referred to periods subsequent to cancellation of the petitioner’s registration with effect from 8 October 2020 and that the relevant period was not properly specified. The respondents disputed these allegations, maintaining that the complete Show Cause Notice had been dispatched and that the references to 2021 in the RUD list were inadvertent typographical errors, whereas the investigation and demand related to October 2018 to November 2019. The respondents also submitted that the relevant documents had been dealt with in the Order in Original and that the petitioner had participated in the proceedings without raising the alleged deficiency.