Facts of the Case

The petitioners, including Akshya Irrigation Products Pvt. Ltd. and its directors, were served with best-judgment assessment orders dated 23.08.2023 (for April, May and June 2023) and 09.10.2023 (for July 2023) passed by the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, Kadapa-1 Circle, under Section 62 of the CGST/APGST Act, 2017, for non-filing of returns. Later, the petitioners filed the corresponding GSTR-3B returns on 02.12.2024, along with tax, interest and late fee. Despite this, the department proceeded to recover the amounts under the assessment orders, including issuing a DRC-16 attachment notice (12.02.2026) and a DRC-17 auction notice (25.03.2026) for immovable property.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether an assessment order passed under Section 62(1) of the GST Act stands automatically withdrawn under Section 62(2) once the registered person files the pending returns, along with tax, interest and late fee.
  2. Whether recovery proceedings, including attachment and auction, could continue after such deemed withdrawal.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • Once the requisite GSTR-3B returns were filed on 02.12.2024 along with the tax payable, interest and late fee, the assessment orders dated 23.08.2023 and 09.10.2023 stood deemed withdrawn under Section 62(2) of the GST Act.
  • Consequently, the recovery proceedings and the attachment/auction notices issued thereafter were without authority of law and liable to be quashed.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The learned Government Pleader for Commercial Taxes, on instructions, fairly confirmed that the requisite GSTR-3B forms had indeed been filed on 02.12.2024 along with the tax payable under the returns and applicable interest and late fee.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Court noted that in all four cases, the assessment orders had been passed under Section 62 solely for non-filing of returns, and the petitioners had subsequently filed the returns on 02.12.2024.
  • The Court held that Section 62(2) of the GST Act stipulates that any order passed under Section 62 shall be deemed withdrawn once the registered person files returns for the relevant periods along with tax, interest and late fee, and since these conditions stood satisfied, the benefit of Section 62(2) was squarely available to the petitioners.
  • The writ petitions were allowed, declaring the assessment orders deemed withdrawn, restraining any further recovery under them, and directing that any amounts already recovered be adjusted against the petitioners' tax dues.

Important Clarification

The deeming fiction under Section 62(2) of the CGST/SGST Act operates automatically once the conditions — filing of the pending return together with tax, interest and late fee — are satisfied, without requiring a fresh order from the department; any assessment order under Section 62(1) is thereby rendered non-est, and the department cannot continue recovery, attachment or auction proceedings founded on such a withdrawn assessment.

Sections Involved

  • Section 62, CGST Act, 2017 — permits best-judgment assessment for non-filers, with sub-section (2) deeming the order withdrawn upon subsequent filing of the valid return with tax, interest and late fee.
  • Section 46, CGST Act, 2017 — provides for notice to return defaulters preceding a Section 62 assessment.

Decision – In Favour of

In favour of the Assessee — the assessment orders were declared deemed withdrawn and recovery under them was barred, with any amount already collected to be adjusted against the assessee's tax dues.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Andhra Pradesh at Amaravati
  • Case Number: WP Nos. 10700, 10702, 10709 & 10675 of 2026
  • CNR / Citation: WP Nos. 10700, 10702, 10709 & 10675 of 2026
  • Coram: Hon'ble Sri Justice R Raghunandan Rao & Hon'ble Sri Justice T.C.D. Sekhar
  • Date of Order: 27 April 2026

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