Show Cause Notice is necessarily to be issued electronically and correspondingly passing demand order immediately after postal notice, Order be liable to Quashed

Case Details:

Issue- In the above case, the petitioner has challenged the impugned order passed by respondent authority immediately passed after issuance of show cause notice through post. Petitioner is a GST registration holder. He defaulted in filing of returns. For that reason, a show cause notice was issued to him. After hearing the petitioner, the Authority has passed the impugned order. It was assailed in an appeal and the appeal was also dismissed.

Held- It was held that Rule 68 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 provides for notice to the non-filers of returns that a notice in form GSTR – 3A shall be issued electronically to a registered person who fails to furnish return under section 39 or section 44 or section 45 or section 52 but no notice, as envisaged in rule 68 of the Rules, was issued, rather a postal notice. Further, it is a settled principle of law that if enactment or legislation prescribes a particular procedure to conduct business affairs, then it has to be followed. In this case, impugned order has been passed without issuing electronic notice to the petitioner but by issuing registered postal notice. In that view of the matter, writ petition was allowed. Impugned orders 26-6-2021 and 28-9-2019 passed by respondent authority were quashed.