JUDGMENT :

Om Narayan Rai, J.

1. The instant writ petition and the connected application being CAN 1 of 2025 together assail a notice to show cause dated August 06, 2025 under Section 74 of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereafter “the said Act of 2017”) and an adjudication order dated November 04, 2025 passed thereafter.

FACTS OF THE CASE:

2. The relevant facts leading to the institution of the writ petition and the application need to be noticed first:-

a. The petitioners claim to be engaged in the business of trading in crude tar and other allied products.

b. A notice dated July 10, 2024 was issued by the respondent no.1 to the petitioner no.1 (hereafter “the petitioner”) in FORM GST DRC-01A in terms of Rule 142 (1A) of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (hereafter “the Rules”) thereby intimating the petitioner about the tax ascertained as being payable by it under Section 74(5) of the said Act of 2017. The said notice was accompanied by an annexure containing the relevant factual summary pertaining to the said case whereby the petitioner was advised to “pay the amount of Tax (CGST: Rs. 18,02,276.00 and SGST : Rs. 18,02,276.00) as ascertained above along with applicable interest in full by 20/07/2024, failing which Show Cause Notice shall be issued under section 73(1)/74(1)”.

c. The petitioner furnished a detailed reply dated July 18, 2024 (along with Part B of FORM GST DRC-01A dated July 20, 2024) to the said intimation/notice dated July 10, 2024.

d. The respondent no.1 was not satisfied with the petitioner’s response to the intimation and as such on August 08, 2024 the said respondent issued a notice calling upon the petitioner to show cause, as to why should the petitioner not pay the amounts demanded in the said notice under different heads i.e. tax, interest and penalty.

e. Assailing the said show cause notice, the petitioners approached this Court by filing W.P.A. No. 22106 of 2024 which was dismissed by an order dated December 13, 2024.

f. The petitioners carried the matter in appeal being M.A.T. No. 2291 of 2024. The said appeal was allowed by an order dated January 21, 2025 directing the authority to “consider the reply dated July 18, 2024 to the intimation issued earlier, deal with those issues and then proceed to issue a show-cause notice”.

g. Upon the appellate order being communicated to the respondents, an order dated April 17, 2025 was passed by the respondent no.1 thereby intimating the petitioner that “As per order dated 21-01-2025 of the Hon'ble Division Bench of Calcutta High Court in MAT 2291 of 2024 with IA NO: CAN 1 of 2024 the show-cause notice issued under Section 74(1) of the Act dated 8^th August, 2024 is set aside and the matter is remanded back to the assessing authority to consider the reply dated 18th July, 2024. Now GST BO portal does not allow to Set aside/Drop the Show-cause notice and issue a fresh Show-cause notice within the same Adjudication case ID. Hence in compliance of the order of the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court [Sec 117(8)] the instant Case ID: AD190724005007A is being dropped and new Adjudication proceedings for the period 2023-24 are initiated vide Case ID: AD190425017080G dated 17-04-2025.”

h. Thereafter, on July 18, 2025 the respondent no.1 issued another notice in FORM GST DRC-01A in terms of Rule 142 (1A) of the said Act of 2017 thereby intimating the petitioner about the tax ascertained as being payable by it under Section 74(5) of the said Act of 2017. As in the earlier round, the said notice was accompanied by an annexure containing the relevant factual summary pertaining to the said case whereby the petitioner was advised to “pay the amount of Tax (CGST: Rs. 18,02,276.00 and SGST : Rs. 18,02,276.00) as ascertained above along with applicable interest and penalty U/s 74 by 23/07/2024, failing which Show Cause Notice shall be issued under section 73(1)/74(1)”. It is not in dispute that the earlier notice/intimation and its annexure and the second notic