Right to personal hearing and Right to object the SCN cannot be compromised if the SCN is not uploaded on the GST portal

The Hon’ble Allahabad High Court in the case of Khanna Polyrib (P.) Ltd. v. State of Uttar Pradesh (Writ Tax No. 1311 of 2023 dated January 12, 2024) held that the printout of the dashboard clearly indicated that the Petitioner was not denied the Right to object the Show Cause Notice and the Right to personal hearing. It was due to the non-uploading of the Show Cause Notice on the GST portal that those rights came to be denied to the Petitioner automatically. Hence, the Right to personal hearing and Right to object the Show Cause Notice cannot be compromised if the Show Cause Notice is not uploaded on the GST portal.

Facts:

Khanna Polyrib (P.) Ltd. (“the Petitioner”) were issued a Show Cause Notice dated August 28, 2023 (“the Impugned Notice”). The Impugned Notice was mandatory to be issued before any penalty may have been imposed. The dashboard on the portal operated by the Petitioner only disclosed the reference number, issue date, the due date to reply, the requirement of personal hearing, section description under which the Impugned Notice was issued. However, it did not contain the Impugned Notice that was necessary to be attached. The Order dated October 10, 2023 (“the Impugned Order”) was passed.

Hence, aggrieved by the circumstances, the present writ petition was filed by the Petitioner.

Issue:

Whether the right to personal hearing and right to object the SCN can be compromised if the SCN is not uploaded on the portal?

Held:

The Hon’ble Allahabad High Court in Writ Tax No. 1311 of 2023 held as under:

• Observed that, the right of the Petitioner to object to the Impugned Notice and right to hearing was completely compromised. Unless, the Impugned Notice had been served on the Petitioner with all its contents and annexures, if any, the Petitioner may never have availed the opportunity to effectively object to the Impugned Notice and participate in the personal hearing.
• Noted that, the print out of the dashboard display clearly indicates that the Petitioner was not denied the right to personal hearing and the right to object the Impugned Notice. Due to the non-uploading of the Impugned Notice, those rights came to be denied to the Petitioner.
• Held that, there is no useful purpose may be served in keeping such a petition pending or calling for a counter affidavit. Hence, the Impugned Order was set aside with liberty to proceed in accordance with law. 

(Author can be reached at info@a2ztaxcorp.com)

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