No Hearing, No Justice: Allahabad HC Reaffirms Taxpayer’s Right to Fair Opportunity under GST Law

The Allahabad High Court says that after passing a notice to the taxpayer, the tax authorities should wait for its reply and thereafter should issue another notice setting the date of the personal hearing. A final decision cannot be taken without giving a taxpayer a fair chance of hearing. Taking any harsh final decision, merely considering a reply furnished to SCN, is incorrect as per the GST law.

M/S Adept and Another had filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court, claiming that they were not given a proper opportunity for a hearing, which is a clear contravention of the principles of natural justice. The petitioner claims that in the present case, a notice was sent, and he filed a detailed reply to the notice; after that, no further notice scheduling the date of a personal hearing was issued by the tax authorities. This explicitly indicates a violation of the principles of natural justice.

When the court analysed the facts of the case, it noted that the impugned order is liable to be set aside since the petitioner was not given an adequate opportunity to present his case and sent the case back to the tax authorities for fresh consideration. Also, directed the respondent authorities to grant the petitioner a fair chance of hearing and, thereafter, issue the final reasoned order, considering the reply of the petitioner in line with the GST laws.

During the case proceedings, the bank account of the petitioner was frozen; the court has also directed the tax authorities to unfreeze the petitioner’s bank account within the time period of seven days from the date of receiving the order.