The Madras High Court quashed the DRC 07 Order noting that the petitioner has mistakenly mentioned the same invoice number in multiple Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) E-way bills. The matter was remanded for reconsideration.
An assessment order has been challenged through a writ petition, primarily on the grounds that the petitioner’s response and accompanying documents were not considered.
The petitioner, a registered entity under the relevant GST regulations, encountered an issue during the assessment period of 2018-2019. Allegedly, while uploading e-way bills related to six invoices, the petitioner mistakenly entered the same invoice number across multiple e-way bills.
Consequently, a show cause notice was served on 10.05.2023, to which the petitioner replied on 28.08.2023, explaining the error and attaching relevant bill copies. Despite this, the impugned order was issued on 30.09.2023.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the response provided on 28.08.2023 was disregarded in the impugned order, with no explanation or consideration for its rejection. Arguing for another opportunity for the petitioner to present their case, the petitioner stated that there was no intention to suppress sales.
On behalf of the respondent, T.N.C. Kaushik, Additional Government Pleader, acknowledged the petitioner’s submission of bills lacking the GST registration number. He suggested that factual disputes should be addressed in appellate proceedings.
Examining the petitioner’s response from 28.08.2023, it was evident that the petitioner acknowledged the inadvertent error and provided relevant bill copies. However, the impugned order failed to address or justify the rejection of this response.
The impugned order, indicated that the petitioner’s reply was acknowledged, yet failed to provide reasons for its dismissal and the absence of discussion on the attached documents. Hence, the Madras High Court deemed it necessary to intervene.
The bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy quashed the impugned order and the matter was remanded to the assessing officer for reconsideration. The petitioner was granted a maximum of 15 days to submit a comprehensive reply to the show cause notice, inclusive of all relevant documents.
Upon receipt, the assessing officer was instructed to afford the petitioner a reasonable opportunity, including a personal hearing, and issue a fresh assessment order within 2 months. Accordingly, the writ petitions were closed.
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