GST Notice uploaded in wrong place: Allahabad High Court asks authorities to issue fresh notice

The Allahabad High Court cancelled a GST demand order because the tax department had uploaded important notices in the wrong place on the GST website. Instead of putting them under the correct section called ‘Due Notices and Orders,’ they were posted under ‘Additional Notices and Orders.’ As a result, the person who received the notices didn’t see them in time and couldn’t respond, which led to the order being cancelled by the court.

The taxpayer, Hindustan Pipes Sales, had challenged the order dated 16.04.2024 published by the Assistant Commissioner, State Tax, as per section 73 of the GST Act, 2017, which has created a demand opposing it.

The applicant explained that the notices were uploaded under the ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ section on the GST website instead of the correct ‘Due Notices and Orders’ section. Because of this, they didn’t know about the notices or the order and couldn’t appear before the authority or challenge the order in time.

In a similar case, Ola Fleet Technologies Private Limited. v. State of Uttar Pradesh, decided on July 22, 2024, the court said that such a mistake gives the applicant the benefit of the doubt and sent the case back to the tax authority for review.

The counsel of the department did not raise their voice on the matter that the notices and orders were uploaded on the wrong tab, i.e., on the ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ tab instead of the ‘Due Notices and Orders’ tab. The situation was accepted by them, as the problem was already solved in the Ola Fleet Technologies Private Limited case.

In the case of Ola Fleet Technologies Private Limited, the High Court observed that the order was not placed under the ‘View Notices and Orders’ tab at the GST Portal instead of being placed under the ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ tab. Which created problems for applicants to answer it on time. The court accepted the same explanation, noted the issue with how the GST portal is designed, and said that the applicant deserved the benefit of the doubt.

The court then closed the case and allowed the applicant to submit a reply since the tax had already been paid. It also told the tax authority to issue a new notice with at least 15 days’ time and then make a fair and detailed decision.

Based on the earlier ruling, the division bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra allowed the current appeal and cancelled the order passed by the Assistant Commissioner, State Tax, on 16.04.2024. The court directed the authority to send a new notice within 15 days and take further action according to the rules.