High Court Sets Aside Ex Parte Appellate Order After Upload of SCN Merely on GST Portal's ‘Additional Notice and Orders’ Tab :

The Calcutta High Court restored the case of Mihir Kumar Biswas to the GST authorities for fresh adjudication after noting that the initial show cause notice was merely uploaded on the ‘Additional Notice and Orders’ tab of the GST portal; hence, the petitioner was unaware of the notice, and this also led to a delay in filing the appeal.

In the present case, Mihir Kumar Biswas (Petitioner) had filed a writ petition before the Calcutta High Court, challenging the validity of an adjudication order dated April 18, 2024, passed by the Assistant Commissioner of Revenue, and an appellate order dated July 07, 2026, passed under Section 107 of the West Bengal GST Act and the Central GST Act, 2017. The said appellate order had dismissed the petitioner's appeal for being barred by limitation.

During the personal hearing before the High Court, the assessee claimed that he was sent a show cause notice (SCN) dated December 22, 2023, proposing the demand of tax, interest and penalty. However, according to the petitioner, the said notice was merely uploaded on the GST portal under the ‘Additional Notice and Orders’ tab, and no physical copy of the notice was sent to him at his address; hence, he was not aware of the notice issuance and therefore also could not respond to the same.

The petitioner further contended that he only got to know about the adjudication order dated April 18, 2024, when an information communication was sent to him at the end of February 2026. Moreover, the petitioner claimed that the appeal filed before the appellate authority under Section 107 of the said Act was also dismissed merely on the ground of delayed filing. Meaning, the case was never heard on its merits. Consequently, the petitioner submitted that the entire tax proceedings and the impugned appellate order are invalid as per the law, as they have been passed in contravention of the principles of natural justice and without due compliance with the procedure prescribed under the said Act.

The tax authorities opposed the petitioner's claims, submitting that he was granted sufficient opportunities to defend his case, and consistent failure to comply led to the dismissal of the appeal on grounds of limitation.

After considering the facts of the case, in the interest of justice, the High Court found it fair to set aside both the appellate order dated July 07, 2026, and the adjudication order dated April 18, 2024. The case is remanded back to the GST authorities for fresh consideration with direction to pass a fresh speaking order within 12 weeks from date, after granting the petitioner a fair opportunity of hearing. Accordingly, the petition was allowed for statistical purposes.