Facts of the Case

The petitioner, M/s. Leela Interior, a sole proprietorship, challenged a show cause notice dated 20.10.2021 issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Central Tax, South Division-04, Bengaluru, and sought production and quashing of an alleged Order-in-Original dated 30.05.2023 (No.84/2023), as well as a recovery letter dated 24.07.2025 and a Form GST DRC-13 dated 10.10.2025 issued to the petitioner's bank. In the alternative, the petitioner sought remand to the stage of hearing on the show cause notice.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the challenge to the show cause notice and the consequential Order-in-Original was covered by the Court's earlier common order in similarly situated batch matters.
  2. Whether the Order-in-Original ought to be quashed and the matter relegated to the post-show-cause-notice stage.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The show cause notice, the alleged Order-in-Original, the subsequent recovery letter, and the bank-attachment notice in Form GST DRC-13 were all liable to be quashed, or alternatively, the matter deserved to be remanded to the show cause notice stage with all contentions kept open.

Respondent's Arguments

  • Learned counsel for the respondents did not dispute that the controversy was directly and squarely covered by the co-ordinate Bench's judgment in M/s. Karnataka Chinmaya Seva Trust v. Joint Commissioner of Central Tax (WP No.11154/2023 and connected matters, decided 03.07.2024).

Court Order / Findings

  • The Court held that the issue in controversy stood squarely covered by Karnataka Chinmaya Seva Trust, where, in a batch of petitions, Orders-in-Original had been set aside and matters relegated to the designated officers to be reconsidered from the show cause notice stage, with petitioners at liberty to file their pleadings within a reasonable time.
  • Disposing of the present petition in terms of that common order, the Court quashed the impugned Order-in-Original dated 30.05.2023 and remitted the matter back to the respondent to the stage of post show cause notice, to proceed further in accordance with law.

Important Clarification

  • Where the Karnataka High Court has already laid down, in a batch judgment such as Karnataka Chinmaya Seva Trust, a common template for setting aside Orders-in-Original and remitting matters to the show cause notice stage with liberty to file fresh pleadings, subsequent individual petitions raising an identical controversy will be disposed of on the same terms without a fresh, independent examination of merits.
  • Consequential recovery measures, including bank attachment under Form GST DRC-13, founded on an Order-in-Original that is set aside on this basis, fall away along with the quashed order and the matter must restart from the show cause notice stage.

Sections Involved

  • Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — the governing statute under which the show cause notice and Order-in-Original were issued.
  • Form GST DRC-13 — notice for recovery by way of garnishee proceedings from a third party (here, the petitioner's bank), issued under Section 79(1)(c).

Decision – In Favour of

Allowed in favour of the Assessee; the Order-in-Original was quashed and the matter remitted to the post show cause notice stage, in terms of the common order in Karnataka Chinmaya Seva Trust.

Case Details

Court: High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru
Case No.: Writ Petition No. 32071 of 2025 (T-RES)
Neutral Citation: 2025:KHC:42607
Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar
Date of Order: 27th October, 2025

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