Facts of the Case

The petitioner, M/S. N.T.K. Jewellers, Manjeri, Malappuram, represented by its Managing Partner K. Jaleel, challenged Ext.P5 assessment order passed by the Deputy Commissioner of State Tax under Section 73 of the CGST/SGST Act, 2017, assessing the petitioner to a tax liability of Rs. 6,36,995. Instead of filing a statutory appeal, the petitioner approached the Kerala High Court directly, contending violation of the principles of natural justice. The assessment record showed that a scrutiny notice (Ext.P1, dated 30.07.2020) had been replied to in Form GST ASMT-10 (Ext.P2), but the subsequent show cause notice under Section 73(1) (Ext.P4) issued in Form DRC-01 went unanswered, and the impugned order was passed on the material already on record, including the earlier ASMT-10 reply.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the impugned assessment order under Section 73 was passed in violation of the principles of natural justice for want of a further opportunity to respond.
  2. Whether a writ petition was maintainable in place of the statutory appellate remedy, given the alleged natural-justice violation.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner contended that the assessment order under Section 73 of the CGST/SGST Act had been passed in violation of the principles of natural justice, warranting the Court's interference under Article 226 instead of relegating it to the statutory appeal.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The assessment order itself recorded that the petitioner had been issued the DRC-01 notice under Section 73(1), which was duly served, but the petitioner failed to file any reply to it — the order was passed only after considering the material already on record, including the earlier ASMT-10 reply to the scrutiny notice.

Court Order/Findings

  • The Court found no reason to disbelieve the authority's recorded finding that the DRC-01 notice had in fact been served on the petitioner, who simply did not respond.
  • Since the finding of service of notice was not shown to be incorrect, the plea of violation of natural justice did not hold, and the petitioner ought to have filed a statutory appeal rather than approach the High Court by way of writ petition.
  • The petition was disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to file an appeal against the assessment order, the Court noting that the limitation for filing such appeals had already been extended up to 31st January 2024 by Circular No.53/2023.

Important Clarification

  • A bare assertion of violation of natural justice will not be accepted at face value where the assessment order itself records that the requisite show cause notice was duly served and simply went unanswered.
  • Taxpayers with pending Section 73 orders can avail the extended limitation for filing statutory appeals granted by Circular No. 53/2023, up to 31st January 2024.

Sections Involved

  • Section 73 of the CGST/SGST Act, 2017 — determination of tax not paid/short paid for reasons other than fraud or wilful misstatement.
  • Section 61 scrutiny procedure (Form GST ASMT-10) preceding issuance of the Section 73 notice in Form DRC-01.

Decision – In Favour of

In favour of the Department. The Kerala High Court declined to interfere on the natural-justice ground and relegated the petitioner to the statutory appellate remedy, leaving the Section 73 assessment order undisturbed for the time being.

Related Case Laws

No directly on-point case notes are currently published on this site.

Case Details

  • Court: Kerala High Court, Ernakulam
  • Case No.: WP(C) No. 15680 of 2023
  • CNR: Not available on record
  • Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh
  • Decision Date: 04.12.2023
  • Disposal Nature: Disposed of, with liberty to file statutory appeal against Section 73 CGST/SGST assessment order availing extended limitation

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