Facts of the Case: M/S Shree Tirupati Agro Food Industries challenged an order dated 18.4.2024 passed under Section 73 of the GST Act, and the consequent appellate order dated 22.9.2025, which dismissed the appeal as being beyond limitation. The petitioner's sole ground was that a departmental circular requires the assessing authority to fix two separate dates — one for filing a reply to the show-cause notice and another for personal hearing — and that this requirement had not been followed in the petitioner's case.

Issues Involved:

  1. Whether a Section 73 assessment order is vitiated where the department fails to fix two distinct dates, one for filing the reply and a separate one for personal hearing, as mandated by its own circular.

Petitioner's Arguments:

  • The circular issued by the respondents makes it incumbent to fix two separate dates — for filing the reply to the show-cause notice, and for the personal hearing — which was not done in the present case.
  • Relied on the Court's own ruling in Mahaveer Trading Company vs. Deputy Commissioner, State Tax (Writ Tax No.303 of 2024, decided 4.3.2024), which had quashed an assessment order on the identical ground.

Respondent's Arguments:

  • The order records that the petition was allowed on the petitioner's sole ground following the Mahaveer Trading Company precedent, without recording a separately elaborated departmental defence on this point.

Court Order / Findings:

  • On the sole ground urged, and following the judgment in Mahaveer Trading Company, the Court allowed the petition.
  • The orders dated 18.4.2024 and 22.9.2025 were quashed, and the matter was remanded to the assessing authority to pass a fresh order after giving an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner.

Important Clarification:

  • Where the GST department's own circular mandates that a separate date be fixed for personal hearing distinct from the date fixed for filing a reply to a show-cause notice, non-compliance with this two-date requirement vitiates the resultant assessment order and warrants quashing and remand — irrespective of the underlying merits of the tax demand.

Sections Involved:

  • Section 73, Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — determination of tax not paid/short paid in non-fraud cases, read with the departmental circular prescribing separate dates for reply and personal hearing as part of natural justice.

Decision – In Favour of: Assessee. Assessment order and appellate order quashed; matter remanded for fresh adjudication with a proper opportunity of hearing.

Related Case Laws: Mahaveer Trading Company vs. Deputy Commissioner, State Tax (Writ Tax No. 303 of 2024, Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench, decided 4.3.2024), on which the present ruling is directly based; compare the natural-justice/reasoned-order approach in M/S Shikhar Rail Infra vs State of U.P. (Writ Tax No. 1593 of 2025), decided the same day by the same Bench.

Case Details: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench | Writ Tax No. 1555 of 2025 | Coram: Hon'ble Justice Manish Kumar | Date of Order: 15.12.2025.

Link to Download the Order: View/Download the Order

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