Effective service of notice under the GST Act is critical, with failure to serve properly resulting in quashing of demand and recognition of violation of natural justice principles.

JUDGMENT :

RAJEEV RANJAN PRASAD, J.

Mrs. Archana learned Senior counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Anshuman Singh, learned Senior standing counsel for the CGST and CX and Mr. Vikash Kumar, Standing counsel for the State.

2. This writ petition has been preferred seeking the following reliefs :

That the Present Writ Petition is being filed for the following reliefs:

i) For direction upon the Respondent Commissioner of State Tax, Department of State Tax, Government of Bihar, Patna to register, hear and dispose of the Revision Application filed under section 108 of the GST Act, 2017 by the Petitioner against the order dated 31.10.2023 passed under section 73(9) of the GST Act, 2017 by the Respondent Deputy Commissioner of State Tax, Patna Central Circle-2, Patna with respect to Financial Year July, 2017 to March, 2018 as the same has been filed through e-mail dated 06.03.2024 due to non-uploading of Revision Application on the GST Portal of the Respondent Department;

ii) For direction upon the Respondent Deputy Commissioner of State Tax, Patna Circle-2, Patna to not take any coercive action or recovery measures for recovery of the impugned order dated 31.10.2023 passed under section 73(9) of the GST Act, 2017 during the pendency of the Revision Application filed vide e-mail dated 06.03.2024 by the Petitioner against the impugned order,

iii) For quashing of the order dated 31.10.2023 and the subsequent demand raised in Form DRC-07 dated 31.10.2023 under section 73 (9) of the GST Act, 2017 whereby a demand to the tune of Rs. 1,57,06,316/- (Tax), Rs. 1,53,13,687/-(Interest) and Rs. 15,78,940/- (Penalty) has been imposed against the Petitioner as the same has been passed in violation of the principle of natural justice and also error apparent from record; and/or for any other relief[s] for which the Petitioner may be found entitled to in the facts & circumstances of the present case.

3. During the pendency of the writ application, the petitioner has amended the writ petition. In paragraph ‘10’ of the interlocutory application seeking amendment of the writ, the following statements have been made :

“7. That it is further humbly stated that in the present case from the perusal of the GST Portal of the Petitioner company it would transpire that no notices of any nature was ever communicated to the Petitioner under the head of 'notices and orders' whereas the same were uploaded under the head 'additional notices and orders' and, therefore, as rightly pleaded in Para 12 of the writ application, as no notices were uploaded under the heading of 'notices and orders', the Petitioner could not learn about issuance of such notices and, therefore, was restrained from making any reply to the same by the act of the Respondents. The Petitioner seeks leave of this Hon'ble Court to bring on record the Screenshot of the GST Portal of the Petitioner Company to substantiate its case that all the notices were issued under the heading 'additional notices and orders' for kind consideration of this Hon'ble Court.”

Case of the petitioner

4. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner company filed its annual return in Form GST-IX on 07.02.2020 wherein the petitioner provided the details of its turnover and computed the tax and paid the tax to the respondent department. The p