The Madras High Court remanded the order confirming the GST liability due to failure to submit oral or document evidence. The matter was remanded for reconsideration on 10% pre-deposit.

The Madras High Court remanded the order confirming the GST liability due to failure to submit oral or document evidence. The matter was remanded for reconsideration on 10% pre-deposit. Jai Maa Engineering Co, the assessee- petitioner submitted claimed they were unaware of the proceedings leading to the impugned order, as all communications were solely uploaded to the GST portal and not conveyed through other means. The petitioner only became aware of the proceedings in late February 2024, when their bank account was attached. The assessee’s counsel submitted that the GST dispute arose from a mismatch between the GSTR-3B returns and the auto-populated GSTR-2A. They contended that given a chance, they could demonstrate that there was no discrepancy between their returns and GSTR-2A. The counsel also added that no date for a personal hearing was set. However, they expressed willingness to pay 10% of the disputed GST demand as a condition for reconsideration. Mr. A. Dhamodaran appeared for the assessee. The respondent’s counsel explained that an ASMT-10 notice was issued following the scrutiny of the assessee’s returns. Subsequently, Government counsel T.N.C. Kaushik also submitted that the show cause notice was issued, along with an offer for a personal hearing. The bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy noted that the order was confirmed as the taxpayer failed to respond or provide any evidence and it found merit in the assessee’s claim that they had not been properly notified of the proceedings and thus were not given a fair chance to contest the GST demand. Consequently, the impugned GST order was set aside. The matter was remanded for reconsideration on the condition that the assessee’s deposit 10% of the disputed tax demand within 15 days from receiving a copy of the order. The assessee was also allowed to submit a reply to the show cause notice within the same 15-day period. Additionally, the bank attachment imposed on the assessee was also lifted.