In this writ petition regarding a GST assessment order, the petitioner alleged a violation of natural justice. The Court held that since an appeal was available, the writ petition was not maintainable and was disposed of with liberty to file the appeal.
Writ petition disposed of with liberty to file an appeal by 31st January 2024.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DINESH KUMAR SINGH MONDAY, THE 4TH DAY OF DECEMBER 2023 / 13TH AGRAHAYANA, 1945 WP(C) NO. 15680 OF 2023
PETITIONER/S:
M/S. N.T.K. JEWELLERS, MM 20/134, PANDIKKAD ROAD, MANJERI, MALAPPURAM, REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING PARTNER, K. JALEEL., PIN - 676121
BY ADVS. HARISANKAR V. MENON MEERA V.MENON R.SREEJITH K.KRISHNA PARVATHY MENON
RESPONDENT/S:
OTHER PRESENT:
MITA RAMACHANDRAN-GP
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 04.12.2023, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
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JUDGMENT
impugning Ext.P5 order issued by the 3rd respondent under
Section 73 of the CGST/SGST Act, 2017.
Court in the present writ petition. The ground for approaching this Court is violation of the principles of natural justice.
petitioner was issued the show-cause notice, to which the petitioner had not filed reply. Pointing out the
discrepancies in the return, the petitioner had been issued
WP(C) NO. 15680 OF 2023
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Ext.P1 notice dated 30th July, 2020. The petitioner filed reply to the said notice in GST ASMT-10 vide Ext.P2. After
considering the reply, the notice under Section 73(1) of the
KGST Act, 2017 has been issued to the petitioner vide Ext.P4. However, no reply was filed to the said notice in
DRC-01 . The Assessing Authority in the impugned order
itself has mentioned that after intimation in DRC-01, which was served on the petitioner, the petitioner failed to file reply, and therefore, whatever material was available, including the reply filed to the notice in GST ASMT-10, the petitioner has been assessed for the tax as mentioned above.
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he ought to have filed an appeal instead of approaching this
Court on the ground of violation of principles of natural
justice, which does not appear to be correct.
been extended till 31st January 2024.
Sd/-
DINESH KUMAR SINGH
JUDGE
JS
WP(C) NO. 15680 OF 2023
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APPENDIX OF WP(C) 15680/2023
PETITIONER EXHIBITS
Exhibit P1 COPY OF NOTICE ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT FOR THE YEAR 2017-18 DTD. 3007-2020 Exhibit P2 COPY OF REPLY FILED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 1ST RESPONDENT DTD. 20-08-2020 Exhibit P3 COPY OF NOTICE ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT DTD. 25-04-2023 Exhibit P4 COPY OF NOTICE ISSUED BY THE 3RD RESPONDENT DTD. 18-01-2022 Exhibit P5 COPY OF ORDER ISSUED BY THE 3RD RESPONDENT DTD. 18-02-2022 Exhibit P6 COPY OF ANNUAL RETURN IN FORM GSTR-9 OF THE PETITIONER DTD. 06-07-2019 Exhibit P7 COPY OF CIRCULAR NO. 183/15/2022-GST DTD. 27-12-2022
2 issues framed by the court
Whether a writ petition challenging an assessment order under Section 73 of the GST Act based on alleged violation of natural justice is maintainable when an appeal against the order was statutorily a
Whether the petitioner should have filed an appeal under the relevant circular instead of approaching the High Court directly in a writ petition.
2 provisions across 2 enactments
M/s. N.T.K. Jewellers
The Assistant Commissioner, State Goods and Services Tax Department
Deputy Commissioner (Arrear Recovery)
Deputy Commissioner of State Tax
State of Kerala
Dinesh Kumar Singh
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
