Right to Be Heard: HC Quashes GST Order u/s Section 75(4) of the Himachal Pradesh GST Act

Recently, a company felt like it was being unfairly treated by the GST department, which passed an order against it without giving it a proper hearing, even though the company had asked for one. The High Court agreed that this was a violation of the principles of natural justice, as an opportunity to be heard was not given to the company. Therefore, they quashed the initial order and directed the department to reconsider the case and, this time, offer the company a fair opportunity to be heard.

The writ petition (CWP No. 6748 of 2025) is being filed by the company named Chander Mukhi Resorts Private Limited (petitioner) against the State of Himachal Pradesh and another (respondent) in the High Court of Himachal Pradesh before the benches comprising Hon’ble Judges Mr. Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Mr. Justice Sushil Kukreja. The case was decided on 18.07.2025. The petitioner prayed the high court to review the case and quash the impugned summary of order in form DRC-07 dated 18.01.2025 and the impugned order dated 18.01.2025, and further direct respondents to freshly decide on the show cause notice dated 29.11.2024 and reconsider the entire matter, and this time provide them a fair opportunity to be heard.

When the high court analysed the entire matter, it discovered that it is true that the company was heard by the department before the issuance of the show cause notice; however, it is also true that the company was not given any proper opportunity to be heard afterward, especially not during the final stage, when the critical decision was made. The records clearly showed that on 24.12.2024, the company had produced some documents, but instead of examining them or holding a hearing, the government officers simply returned the documents to the accountant of the company. Meaning, no actual hearing ever took place in the case before the issuance of the final order.

The cites Section 75(4) of the Himachal Pradesh GST Act, 2019, which clearly says that if a taxpayer asks for a personal hearing opportunity in reply to any show cause notice, then the department is bound to provide one. In this case, the company had specifically requested a hearing in its written reply to the SCN; however, they were not even given a single chance. The department (respondent) agreed with this point of the court and admitted that the procedure followed by the officer (respondent No. 2) was not proper.

In the final order, the Himachal Pradesh High Court quashed the impugned order dated 18.01.2025 and directed the company to appear before the concerned officer (respondent No. 2) on 02.08.2025 and directed the concerned officer to this time properly hear the company and allow them to present all necessary documents and, based on that, issue a fresh order with proper fairness and merits. The court also stated that any pending related applications would be considered closed along with this main petition.