Facts of the Case

M/s SS Medical Systems (India) Private Limited challenged a GST assessment order, relying on an earlier order of the same Bench dated 21.04.2025 in M/s Modine Thermal Systems Pvt. Ltd. vs. State of Uttarakhand, involving an identical fact pattern. In the Modine case, a show cause notice under Form GST ASMT-10 dated 18.06.2024 was followed by a reply, then a Form DRC-01 show cause notice dated 28.11.2024 with a personal hearing scheduled for 20.12.2024 — a date before the last date for submission of reply (28.12.2024). The assessee's request to adjourn the personal hearing until after filing its reply was rejected, and the assessment order was passed. Both parties agreed the present case involved the same facts as Modine.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether fixing a personal hearing date before the last date prescribed for filing a reply to a show cause notice is consistent with the statutory scheme of Sections 73 to 75 of the GST Act.
  2. Whether rejection of an adjournment request in such circumstances, without recorded justifiable reasons, vitiates the resulting assessment order.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner relied entirely on the reasoning of the earlier decision in M/s Modine Thermal Systems Pvt. Ltd., submitting the facts of the present case were similar.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The State's counsel confirmed, on instructions, that the facts of the present case mirrored those in the Modine Thermal Systems matter already decided by the Bench.

Court Order / Findings

  • Reproducing its reasoning from Modine Thermal Systems, the Court held that fixing a personal hearing date before the last date for filing a reply is 'akin to putting the cart before the horse', since submissions at a personal hearing must necessarily follow from the reply filed.
  • A conjunctive reading of Sections 73, 74 and 75 — particularly sub-sections (4) and (5) of Section 75, which allow up to three adjournments for sufficient cause — shows the statutory scheme contemplates the reply preceding the hearing.
  • Since the order in the earlier case did not disclose any justifiable reasons for rejecting the adjournment request, and the approach itself was contrary to the scheme of Section 75, the assessment order was set aside there.
  • Applying the same reasoning to the present, factually identical case, the Court set aside the assessment order and remitted the matter to the competent authority to proceed afresh from the stage of the show cause notice.

Important Clarification

  • Scheduling a personal hearing before the deadline for filing a reply to a GST show cause notice inverts the statutory sequence under Sections 73-75 and is liable to vitiate the resulting order.
  • Rejection of an adjournment request under Section 75(5) must be supported by justifiable, recorded reasons; an unexplained rejection can itself be a ground to set aside the assessment.

Sections Involved

  • Section 75(4)/(5), CGST/State GST Act, 2017 — opportunity of hearing and limits on adjournments in adjudication proceedings.
  • Sections 73/74, CGST/State GST Act, 2017 — procedure for determination of tax.

Decision – In Favour of

The writ petition was allowed in favour of the Assessee, with the assessment order set aside and the matter remitted to the stage of the show cause notice.

Case Details

Court: High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital
Case No.: Writ Petition (M/B) No. 1020 of 2025
Coram: Hon'ble the Chief Justice G. Narendar and Hon'ble Sri Justice Subhash Upadhyay
Date of Order: 06.01.2026

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