Case Summary
Case Title: Boldrocchi India Pvt. Ltd. v. State Tax Officer (ST), Joint Commissioner (ST) & Deputy Commissioner (ST)
Court: High Court of Judicature at Madras
Petition Nos.: W.P. Nos. 18923, 18927, 18929, 18959, 18962, 18971 & 18980 of 2025
Date of Judgment: 26.06.2025
Category: Principles of Natural Justice – Assessment without considering reply
Relevant Sections: Section 74 & 161, CGST Act, 2017; Article 226 of the Constitution of India
Facts (Paras 4–5)
The petitioner, Boldrocchi India Pvt. Ltd., registered under GST, filed monthly and annual returns for AY 2017–18 to 2022–23. The Department issued notices in Form GST DRC-01A and DRC-01. The petitioner, unable to upload voluminous records on the GST portal, filed a detailed reply with supporting documents manually on 12.11.2024, which was acknowledged by the Department. However, the State Tax Officer passed orders under Section 74 dated 27.11.2024 and subsequent rectification orders under Section 161 dated 04.04.2025, proceeding as if no reply had been filed. Recovery notice dated 29.04.2025 for multiple years was also issued.
Questions for Consideration
Whether assessment orders passed without considering a manually filed reply and without affording personal hearing violate principles of natural justice under GST law.
Observations (Paras 6–9)
The Court noted that even if the reply is filed manually and not uploaded on the GST portal, the Assessing Officer is duty-bound to consider it. Ignoring such reply and confirming proposals mechanically amounts to denial of fair hearing. The Department fairly admitted that the petitioner’s manual reply was not examined. The Court emphasized that assessment proceedings under Section 74 must be undertaken after due consideration of the assessee’s defense and after providing a personal hearing with sufficient notice.
Judgment (Paras 9–10)
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Orders under Section 74 (dated 27.11.2024) and rectification orders under Section 161 (dated 04.04.2025) were set aside.
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Matters remanded to the Assessing Officer for fresh consideration after examining the petitioner’s reply and granting a personal hearing with 14 days’ notice.
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Recovery notice dated 29.04.2025 (W.P. No. 18980/2025) was also quashed in light of the above directions.
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Writ petitions were allowed, with no costs.
Table of Cases Referred
| Case | Citation | Verdict / Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Present case only | – | Orders ignoring manual reply are invalid; natural justice requires consideration of reply irrespective of filing mode (manual or portal). |
Between Fine Lines
For businesses, this judgment clarifies that replies filed manually, if duly acknowledged, cannot be ignored merely because they were not uploaded on the GST portal. Officers must consider such replies and provide a proper hearing before finalizing assessments. This safeguards taxpayers from mechanical orders and ensures fair adjudication.
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