Manavalan Govindanaidu Vs The Assistant Commissioner… — GST and Indirect Tax | Madras HC (2026)

Manavalan Govindanaidu Vs The Assistant Commissioner… — GST and Indirect Tax | Madras HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Writ Petition disposed of at admission with consent: case remitted to the Respondent for a fresh order on merits subject to pre-deposit of 10% of the disputed tax within 30 days and reply to the DRC-01 show cause notice (impugned order treated as addendum); fresh order subject to the Supreme Court's decision on seigniorage fee/royalty for minerals; bank attachment lifted subject to the deposit and absence of other arrears; non-compliance permits recovery as if the writ were dismissed in limine; due notice to be given before any fresh order; connected W.M.P.Nos.3827 and 3828 of 2026 closed; no costs.

Issue for consideration

Whether the impugned GST order dated 21.11.2025 (with DRC-07 summary) challenged by the petitioner should be set aside and the matter remitted for fresh adjudication, and on what conditions (pre-deposit of disputed tax, reply to the show cause notice, lifting of bank attachment).

Court's answer

Under similar circumstances, orders have been quashed and cases remitted back to the Respondent for a fresh order on terms, subject to the assessee depositing 10% to 100% of the disputed tax depending on the length of delay in approaching the Court; the Judge found no reason to take a different view in this case.

Ratio / Principle

To balance the interests of 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 thirty (30) days from receipt of a copy of the order.

Key takeaways

The Revenue shall pass a fresh order in respect of the impugned order dated 21.11.2025, subject to the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court on the seigniorage fee / royalty payable to the Government for minerals.ratio¶31
Within the stipulated time, the Petitioner shall file a reply to the Show Cause Notice in GST DRC-01 dated 30.09.2025 with requisite documents, treating the impugned Order dated 21.11.2025 as an addendum to that Show Cause Notice.ratio¶36
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).

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Madras High Court (C. Saravanan, J.), disposing of a writ petition under Article 226 at the stage of admission with consent, dealt with a challenge to a GST order dated 21.11.2025 (Form GST DRC-07 Ref. No.ZD3311253873784) issued after a DRC-01 show cause notice dated 30.09.2025 at which the assessee did not appear for personal hearing. Since the petition, filed on 30.01.2026, was within the limitation period for appeal under Section 107 of the respective GST enactments, 2017, and the petitioner offered to pre-deposit 10% of the disputed tax, the Court followed its practice in similar cases (deposit of 10%–100% depending on delay) and remitted the matter to the assessing officer for a fresh order on merits, subject to: deposit of 10% of disputed tax in cash or from the Electronic Cash Register within 30 days; filing of a reply to the SCN treating the impugned order as its addendum; the fresh order being subject to the Supreme Court's decision on seigniorage fee/royalty payable for minerals; lifting of bank attachment subject to the deposit and no arrears for other tax periods; and due notice before any fresh order. Default entitled the Respondent to recover the tax as if the writ petition had been dismissed in limine. Connected miscellaneous petitions closed; no costs.

W.P.No.3407 of 2026

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED : 03.02.2026

CORAM :

THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.SARAVANAN

W.P.No.3407 of 2026

and W.M.P.Nos.3827 and 3828 of 2026

Manavalan Govindanaidu ... Petitioner

Vs.

The Assistant Commissioner (ST) (FAC) / Commercial Tax Officer Kancheepuram (Rural) Asessment Circle 1^st Floor Commercial Tax Office, Collectorate Campus, Kanchipuram 631 501.

... Respondent

Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, for issuance of a Writ of Certiorari, to call for the records of the impugned Order issued by the Respondent in GST/33EGDPM5605Q1Z1/2021-22 dated 21.11.2025 along with impugned Order and Summary of Order in Form GST DRC-07 bearing Reference No.ZD3311253873784 dated 21.11.2025 and quash the same.

For Petitioner : M/s.Rukmani Venugopalan For Respondent : Mrs.P.Selvi, Government Advocate ************

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W.P.No.3407 of 2026

ORDER

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

Respondent.

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

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

In this Writ Petition, the Petitioner has challenged the impugned Order dated 21.11.2025, which was preceded by a Show Cause Notice in GST DRC-01 dated 30.09.2025 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 21.11.2025.

It is noticed that the present Writ Petition has been filed on 30.01.2026 which is within a period of limitation for filing an appeal under Section 107 of the respective GST enactments, 2017 against the impugned Order.

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W.P.No.3407 of 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.

The Revenue shall pass a fresh order in respect of the impugned order dated 21.11.2025, subject to the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court on the Seigniorage fee / royalty payable to the Government for the minerals.

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W.P.No.3407 of 2026

Within such time, the Petitioner shall also file a reply to the

Show Cause Notice in GST DRC-01 dated 30.09.2025 together with requisite documents to substantiate the case by treating the impugned Order dated 21.11.2025 as an addendum to the Show Cause Notice dated 30.09.2025.

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 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.

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W.P.No.3407 of 2026

This Writ Petition stands disposed of with the above observations. No costs. Connected Writ Miscellaneous Petitions are closed.

03.02.2026

nvi Neutral Citation: Yes / No

To:

The Assistant Commissioner (ST) (FAC) / Commercial Tax Officer Kancheepuram (Rural) Asessment Circle 1^st Floor Commercial Tax Office, Collectorate Campus, Kanchipuram 631 501.

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W.P.No.3407 of 2026

C.SARAVANAN, J.

nvi

W.P.No.3407 of 2026 and W.M.P.Nos.3827 and 3828 of 2026

03.02.2026

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