Facts of the Case

The petitioner, M/S Jaiswal Khad Bhandar, through its proprietor Durga Prasad Jaiswal, challenged an order dated 17.02.2025 passed under Section 73 of the GST Act and a further order dated 05.07.2025 dismissing its appeal as beyond limitation. The petitioner's grievance was that no opportunity of hearing was granted and no notice was validly posted — the notices sent had been posted only on the additional tab of the GST Portal, and hence could not be noticed.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether notices posted only on the additional tab of the GST Portal, without any opportunity of hearing granted, vitiated the impugned order.
  2. Whether the appellate dismissal for limitation could be sustained alongside such a procedural defect.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • No opportunity of hearing was granted, and the notices sent were posted only on the additional tab, so that the same could not be noticed and the order was passed without any opportunity of hearing.

Respondent's Arguments

  • Learned Standing Counsel, based on instructions, could not deny the fact that the notices were posted only on the additional tab and that no opportunity of hearing was granted.

Court Order / Findings

  • Considering these conceded facts and the law laid down in Ola Fleet Technologies Private Limited vs State of U.P. and others (2024:AHC:116559-DB), the Court held that the impugned orders dated 17.02.2025 and 05.07.2025 deserved to be quashed, and accordingly quashed them, allowing the writ petition.
  • The matter was remanded back to the Assessing Authority to pass a fresh order, in accordance with law, after providing an opportunity of hearing.

Important Clarification

  • Where the Department itself concedes, on instructions, that a Section 73 notice was posted only on the additional/less-visible tab of the GST Portal and that no opportunity of hearing was granted, the Allahabad High Court will quash both the assessment order and any consequential time-barred appellate dismissal, applying the Ola Fleet Technologies line of precedent.
  • The remedy is uniform remand for a fresh, procedurally compliant adjudication with a genuine opportunity of hearing, rather than relegation to the statutory appeal.

Sections Involved

  • Section 73 of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — determination of tax not paid or short paid, or ITC wrongly availed, for reasons other than fraud.

Decision – In Favour of

Allowed in favour of the Assessee; both orders were quashed and the matter remanded for fresh adjudication after providing an opportunity of hearing.

Case Details

Court: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench
Case No.: Writ Tax No. 648 of 2025
Neutral Citation: 2025:AHC-LKO:42416
Coram: Hon'ble Pankaj Bhatia, J.
Date of Order: 24th July, 2025

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