No Reply to SCN, No Hearing Attended: High Court Declines to Quash Rs. 35.6 Lakh GST Demand:

No Reply to SCN, No Hearing Attended: High Court Declines to Quash Rs. 35.6 Lakh GST Demand Aggarwal Traders approached the High Court, challenging the assessment order dated 25 August 2024 issued pursuant to a Show Cause Notice of 28 May 2024 for FY 2019-20, raising a GST demand of Rs. 35,61,082. Alongside the tax dispute, the petitioner also questioned four GST Notifications Nos. 09/2023 (Central & State) and 56/2023 (Central & State), on the ground that they allegedly extended limitation periods without following the statutory procedure under Section 168A of the CGST Act. Since similar challenges had already been argued in the batch led by DJST Traders Pvt. Ltd., the matter fell within the broader legal controversy now pending before the Supreme Court. The petitioner said that it had filed all required GST returns and was unaware of the adverse order until later. The proprietor had entrusted the appeal filing to a tax consultant, who unfortunately fell ill and passed away on 19 February 2025, resulting in no appeal being filed. The lapse came to light only in September 2025, leading to the filing of the present writ. Main Issue: Whether the writ court should interfere with the assessment order and GST demand when the petitioner failed to file a reply or attend hearings, and when the broader challenge to the GST limitation extension notifications is already pending before the Supreme Court. HC Held: The Court reiterated that the validity of the impugned GST notifications is directly under consideration before the Supreme Court and therefore need not be decided in the present proceedings. Since the petitioner neither filed a reply to the SCN nor availed of the personal hearing, the Court found no reason to exercise writ jurisdiction to set aside the assessment. The Court permitted the petitioner to file a statutory appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act by 15 January 2026, with the necessary pre-deposit. It directed the authorities to re-enable portal access within one week and clarified that any such appeal shall not be treated as time-barred. The Court further specified that the appellate decision will remain subject to the Supreme Court’s ruling and to the High Court’s pending determination in Engineers India Ltd. on State notifications. To Read Full Judgment, Download PDF Given Below