Gita Rani Pan Vs Union of India & Ors (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court considered whether a GST show cause notice and consequential tax determination could validly be issued in the name of a deceased proprietor without issuing notice to his legal representatives. The petitioner challenged the Order in Original dated 21.01.2025 passed under Section 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, under which a demand of Rs. 38,44,674/- along with applicable interest and penalty had been raised for the tax period July 2017 to September 2021, pertaining to Financial Years 2017-18 to 2020-2021.
The petitioner submitted that the show cause notice dated 08.03.2022 had been issued in the name of Late Haradhan Pan, who had died on 20.05.2021. After his death, his wife, the petitioner, applied for a fresh GST registration in her own PAN on 18.06.2021, declaring commencement of business from 21.05.2021. The Department thereafter issued a fresh registration number. An application for cancellation of the deceased proprietor’s registration was subsequently made on 10.05.2022, and the registration was cancelled with effect from that date.
Despite these circumstances, the GST authorities issued the show cause notice in the name of the deceased proprietor. The petitioner responded to the notice on 22.04.2024 and 06.08.2024, following which the Order in Original was passed on 21.01.2025. The petitioner contended that the proceedings were void ab initio because they had been initiated against a dead person.
