Case Law Details
Godavari Commodities Ltd. Vs Union of India (Jharkhand High Court)
In the present case, though it is submitted by learned counsel for CGST that since the tax was paid, Section 73 (1) of the Act shall not be attracted in the case of the petitioner, but the fact remains that the tax was not paid by the petitioner Company in the Government account within the due date, and accordingly it is a case of tax not being paid, within the period prescribed, or when due. In that view of the matter, we are unable to accept the contention of learned counsel for CGST that no show-cause notice was required to be given in this case. Even otherwise, if any penal action is taken against the petitioner, irrespective of the fact whether there is provision under the Act or not, the minimum requirement is that the principles of natural justice must be followed. In the present case admittedly, prior to the issuance of letter dated 6.2.2019, no show-cause notice or an opportunity of being heard was given to the petitioner and no adjudication order was passed.
In the present case, admittedly amount of Rs.11,58,643/-, i.e., the amount of short paid interest has already been realised from the petitioner, after freezing the bank account of the petitioner, and after the payment of the said amount, the bank account has also been defreezed.
In the aforesaid backdrop, for the purpose of this case, we treat the letter dated 6.2.2019, as contained in Annexure-3, to be a show-cause notice issued under Section 73(1) of the CGST Act 2017. The petitioner shall be given an opportunity of being heard by the adjudicating authority, who shall give a hearing to the petitioner, whether the petitioner was liable to pay the short paid interest amount or not. In case, upon adjudication, it is found that the petitioner was not liable to make the payment of interest short paid, the said amount shall be refunded to the petitioner with statutory interest thereon.
FULL TEXT OF THE HIGH COURT ORDER / JUDGEMENT
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