Tvl.Southern Foods Vs Assistant Commissioner (St) — GST and Indirect Tax | Madras HC (2026)

Tvl.Southern Foods Vs Assistant Commissioner (St) — GST and Indirect Tax | Madras HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Writ petition disposed of at admission with consent of counsel; case remitted back to the Respondent for a fresh (de novo) order on merits subject to the Petitioner pre-depositing 10% of the disputed tax in cash or from the Electronic Cash Register within 30 days, filing a reply to the GST DRC-01 notice dated 19.06.2025 treating the impugned order as its addendum, and the Respondent thereafter passing a final order preferably within 3 months; bank attachment to be automatically vacated/lifted on compliance (further conditioned on no arrears for other tax periods); on non-compliance the Respondent may recover the tax as if the writ was dismissed in limine; due notice to be given before any fresh order; no costs; connected Writ Miscellaneous Petitions closed.

Issue for consideration

Whether the impugned ex parte adjudication order (GST DRC-07 dated 06.11.2025), passed after the Petitioner failed to respond to the Show Cause Notice and reminders and with the Section 107 appeal period expired, should be set aside and the case remitted for fresh adjudication subject to a pre-deposit condition.

Court's answer

Following the practice under similar circumstances, where orders have been quashed and cases remitted back to the respondent to pass a fresh order on terms of the assessee depositing 10% to 100% of the disputed tax depending upon the length of delay in approaching the Court, the Court found no reason to take a different view in this case.

Ratio / Principle

To balance the interest of both parties viz., the Assessee and the Revenue, the case was remitted back to the Respondent to pass a fresh order on merits, subject to the Petitioner depositing 10% of the disputed tax in cash or from the Petitioner's Electronic Cash Register within thirty (30) days from receipt of a copy of the order.

Key takeaways

Within the same time, the Petitioner shall file a reply to the Show Cause Notice in GST DRC-01 dated 19.06.2025 together with requisite documents to substantiate the case, treating the impugned order dated 06.11.2025 as an addendum to that Show Cause Notice.ratio¶37
On compliance with the stipulations, the Respondent shall pass a final order on merits and in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible, preferably within three (3) months of the reply/pre-deposit; subject to compliance, the attachment of the Petitioner's bank account shall stand automatically vacated.ratio¶38

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Madras High Court (Hon'ble C. Saravanan, J.), disposing of a writ petition at admission with consent: Tvl. Southern Foods challenged, under Article 226, an ex parte adjudication order in GST DRC-07 dated 06.11.2025 (No.ZD3311251001729) issued by the Assistant Commissioner (ST), Villupuram II Assessment Circle under Section 73 of the TNGST Act 2017 for FY 2021-22, which followed a GST DRC-01 show cause notice dated 19.06.2025 and reminders dated 06.08.2025, 14.08.2025 and 28.08.2025 that went unanswered, and with the Section 107 appeal period already expired when the writ was filed on 19.01.2026. Balancing the interests of the Assessee and the Revenue, and consistent with the Court's approach in like cases of remitting orders on pre-deposit terms scaled to delay (10% to 100% of disputed tax), the case was remitted to the Respondent for a fresh order on merits subject to: (i) pre-deposit of 10% of the disputed tax in cash or from the Electronic Cash Register within 30 days; (ii) filing of a reply to the DRC-01 notice with supporting documents, treating the impugned order as an addendum to it; and (iii) a final order on merits preferably within 3 months of the reply/pre-deposit. Bank attachment to stand automatically vacated/lifted on compliance, additionally conditioned on the assessee having no arrears for other tax periods; on default, the Respondent may recover the tax as if the writ had been dismissed in limine, with due notice before any fresh order. No costs; connected W.M.P.Nos.1917 and 1918 of 2026 closed.

W.P.No.1830 of 2026

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED : 20.01.2026

CORAM :

THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.SARAVANAN

W.P.No.1830 of 2026

and

W.M.P.Nos.1917 and 1918 of 2026

Tvl. Southern Foods Rep by its Partner – SVS Velkumar 866, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Villupuram, Tamil Nadu – 605 602. ... Petitioner

Assistant Commissioner (ST) Villupuram II Assessment Circle, Intergrated Building for Commercial Taxes Office, Villupuram. ... Respondent

Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, for issuance of a Writ of Certiorari calling for the records relating to the Respondent order in GST DRC – 07 dated 06.11.2025 bearing No.ZD3311251001729 issued by the respondent under Section 73 of the TNGST Act 2017 for the Financial year 2021-22 and quash the same.

For Petitioner : M/s.Vaani Sreekanth Iyer

For Respondent : Mrs.P.Selvi Government Advocate

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W.P.No.1830 of 2026

ORDER

Mrs.P.Selvi, learned Government Advocate takes notice for the

Respondent.

This Writ Petition is being disposed of at the time of admission

with the consent of the learned counsel for the Petitioner and learned Government Advocate for the Respondent.

In this Writ Petition, the Petitioner has challenged the impugned Order dated 06.11.2025, which was preceded by a Show Cause Notice in GST DRC-01 dated 19.06.2025 wherein the Petitioner was called upon to appear for personal hearing. However, the Petitioner had not taken advantage of the same and thus, suffered the impugned Order dated 06.11.2025.

The Petitioner was also issued with Reminder on 06.08.2025, 14.08.2025 and 28.08.2025 which called upon the Petitioner to file a reply and to appear for a personal hearing. However, the Petitioner neither filed any reply nor appeared for the personal hearing despite multiple opportunities. Thus, the impugned Order has been passed.

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W.P.No.1830 of 2026

It is noticed that the limitation for filing an appeal under Section

107 of the respective GST enactments, 2017 against the impugned Order has already expired. The present Writ Petition has been filed only on 19.01.2026.

At this stage, the learned counsel for the Petitioner submits that the Petitioner is willing to pre-deposit 10% of the disputed tax as a condition for denovo adjudication.

Under similar circumstances, Orders have been quashed and

cases have been remitted back to the Respondent to pass a fresh order on terms subject to such Assessee depositing 10% to 100% of the disputed tax depending upon the length of delay in approaching the Court. I do not find any reason to take a different view in this case.

Therefore, to balance the interest of both parties viz., the

Assessee and the Revenue, the case is remitted back to the Respondent to pass a fresh order on merits subject to the Petitioner depositing 10% of the disputed tax in cash or from the Petitioner's Electronic Cash Register within a period of thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.

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W.P.No.1830 of 2026

Within such time, the Petitioner shall also file a reply to the Show Cause Notice in GST DRC-01 dated 19.06.2025 together with requisite documents to substantiate the case by treating the impugned Order dated 06.11.2025 as an addendum to the Show Cause Notice dated 19.06.2025.

In case the Petitioner complies with the above stipulations, the Respondent shall proceed to pass a final order on merits and in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible, preferably, within a period of three (3) months of such reply/pre-deposit. Subject to the Petitioner complying with the above stipulations, the attachment of the bank account of the Petitioner shall also stand automatically vacated.

It is made clear that bank attachment shall be lifted subject to the Petitioner depositing 10% of the disputed tax as ordered above and the Petitioner not being in arrears of any other amount for any other tax period barring the amount demanded under the impugned Order.

In case the Petitioner fails to comply with any of the stipulations, the Respondent is at liberty to proceed against the Petitioner to recover the

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W.P.No.1830 of 2026

tax in accordance with law as if this Writ Petition was dismissed in limine today.

Needless to state, before passing any such order, the Respondent shall give due notice to the Petitioner.

This Writ Petition stands disposed of with the above observations.

No costs. Connected Writ Miscellaneous Petitions are closed.

20.01.2026

Neutral Citation: Yes / No av

To:

Assistant Commissioner (ST) Villupuram II Assessment Circle, Intergrated Building for Commercial Taxes Office, Villupuram.

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W.P.No.1830 of 2026

C.SARAVANAN, J.

av

W.P.No.1830 of 2026 and W.M.P.Nos.1917 and 1918 of 2026

20.01.2026

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