Order Date – 20 February 2025

Parties: M/s Ramanattu Motor Corp. Vs State Of Kerala, State Tax Officer and State Tax Officer (Arrears and Recovery)

Facts –

• The Petitioner,  M/s Ramanattu Motor Corp., was issued with a show cause notice and an order imposing a huge liability. It was submitted by the petitioner that it was unaware of the proceedings until intimation of the recovery proceeding was uploaded in the portal.
• According to the petitioner, the show cause notice came to the knowledge of  the petitioner much later, as it was uploaded in the tab for ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ and not that provided for ‘Notices and Orders’ in the portal, thus the order was issued in violation of the principles of natural justice.

Issue –

• Whether serving show cause notice under ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ constitutes non-service of notice?

Order –

• The Single Bench of Hon’ble High Court observed in the absence of specific notes or instructions given on the same page meant for ‘Notices and Orders’ or ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ it cannot be assumed that there has been an effective dissemination of information to taxpayers that the first notice regarding determination under section 73 or 74 of the GST Act will be uploaded only in the tab meant for ‘Additional Notices and Orders’.
• Further it was found that the petitioner was unaware of the notice and was even not properly served with the notices due to the vagueness of the system. The lack of knowledge of the notice issued to the petitioner is therefore attributable to the respondents. Thus, there was neither any proper service of notice nor was sufficient opportunity granted to the petitioner to contest the matter. Therefore, it is essential that the order of determination dated 06.03.2024 be set aside and the petitioner be granted an opportunity to file response to Ext.P3 and Ext.P4 notices.
• The writ petition is allowed