Star Raison Landmarks Vs Chief Commissioner State Tax Commercial Taxes Department (Rajasthan High Court)
Summary: The Rajasthan High Court allowed the writ petition challenging a show cause notice dated 23.09.2023, Order-in-Original dated 19.12.2023 and consequential recovery notice dated 27.03.2024 issued under Section 79 of the CGST Act, holding that statutory notices and orders bearing neither a digital nor physical signature are non est in law. The petition had originally challenged four notifications/circulars issued under Section 168A, including Notification No. 13/2022-Central Tax dated 05.07.2022 and Notification No. 09/2023-Central Tax dated 31.03.2023, but that challenge was subsequently given up, leaving only the issue concerning unsigned statutory documents. Scrutiny proceedings had commenced through Form ASMT-10 dated 29.11.2022, followed by the petitioner’s reply in Form ASMT-11 dated 25.04.2023.
Thereafter, the show cause notice dated 23.09.2023 and Order-in-Original dated 19.12.2023 were issued. Recovery followed through Form DRC-13 dated 27.03.2024 addressed to the petitioner’s banker, and a demand of Rs. 11,76,97,600/- was reflected on the GST portal. The petitioner contended that the show cause notice under Section 73, Form DRC-01, Order-in-Original and Form DRC-07 carried neither physical nor digital signatures and therefore lacked legal existence. The respondents argued that uploading a document through the BOWEB Portal and its reflection on the GSTN Portal necessarily involved use of the concerned officer’s digital signature and that the signature might not appear on a downloaded printout.
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