Order Date –  31 July 2025 

Parties: SHREEARIHANT LOGISTICS PRIVATE LIMITED Vs THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 2 ORS, THE PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF STATE TAX, THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF STATE TAX

Facts – 

• The Petitioner, ShreeariHant Logistics Pvt. Ltd, was served a summary of show cause notice (SCN) in Form GST DRC-01 without an attached, properly authenticated SCN or any mention of a hearing date.
• The Order in Form GST DRC-07 was passed solely on the grounds of non-payment within 30 days, without affording a proper opportunity of hearing or issuing a valid SCN under Section 73 of the CGST/State GST Acts.

Issue – 

• Whether summary in GST DRC-01 without a properly authenticated and detailed show cause notice, and without opportunity of hearing, satisfies the requirements under Section 73 and 75(4) of GST Act?

Orders – 

• The Single Bench of the Hon’ble High Court held that the Summary of the SCN issued in FORM GST DRC-01 does not substitute the proper SCN required under Section 73(1) of both the Central and State GST Acts. A formal and duly authenticated SCN is mandatorily required to initiate proceedings under Section 73. The Statement of tax determination under Section 73(3), which is attached to the summary in the present case cannot be treated as a valid SCN. Therefore, initiating proceedings solely based on such a statement is not in conformity with law.
• Court also noted that the impugned order contravenes Section 75(4)of the Act which mandates that a reasonable opportunity of hearing must be provided either when an adverse decision is contemplated or when a written request is made by the assessee. In the present case, although the DRC-01 summary specifies the date for filing a reply, it leaves the fields regarding the date and time of personal hearing as “NA”. In a situation where no reply is submitted, the Proper Officer cannot proceed to pass an adverse order without granting an opportunity of hearing, as doing so would render the safeguards under Section 75(4) ineffective and violate principles of natural justice.
• Accordingly, the impugned order dated 28.12.2023 was set aside. Further, the Court granted liberty to initiate de novo proceedings under Section 73, if considered appropriate.