Supreme Court Issues Notice on Whether Mere Uploading of GST Show Cause Notice and Adjudication Order on Portal Constitutes Valid Service:

The Hon’ble Supreme Court has issued notice in a Special Leave Petition filed by GVK Jaipur Expressway Pvt. Ltd. against a judgment of the Rajasthan High Court concerning a GST demand of Rs. 14,06,54,640.

The case relates to the service of a Show Cause Notice (SCN) and the subsequent adjudication order. The assessee has argued that neither the SCN nor the adjudication order was properly served on it.

According to the assessee, the documents were only uploaded on the GST Common Portal and were not separately served through other prescribed modes. It has contended that merely uploading the documents on the portal may not amount to valid service.

During the hearing, the assessee also referred to decisions of the Madras High Court and Delhi High Court, where portal-based service was considered incomplete in certain circumstances. In particular, the courts had noted that notices and orders may appear under two different sections of the GST portal- "View Additional Notices/Orders" and "View Notices and Orders."

Taking note of these submissions, the Supreme Court issued notice in the matter, making it returnable in four weeks. The proceedings before the Supreme Court will therefore examine the issue of whether uploading a notice or order on the GST portal, in the circumstances of the case, is sufficient to constitute valid service.