The Madras High Court granted a second chance to the petitioner to submit the documents with regards to the GSTR 1 and GSTR 3B discrepancies without the Pre-deposit condition. The Court has remanded the case back to the first respondent for fresh consideration. The petitioner, Mr. Hajabandenawas Partner of M/s. Hameedia Hardware Corporation, was issued a Form GST ASMT-10 notice on August 16, 2023, followed by a Form GST DRC-01 notice on September 22, 2023, which scheduled a personal hearing for October 10, 2023. The issue at hand involved a mismatch between the petitioner’s GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B returns. Consequently, the first respondent issued an order on October 12, 2023, under Section 73 of the Central GST/Tamil Nadu GST Act, confirming the proposal for tax, interest, and penalty, and directed the petitioner to make the payment by January 10, 2024. Despite the petitioner claiming to have submitted all relevant details to the respondent, the first respondent allegedly did not consider the provided information.

This led the petitioner to file a writ petition challenging the order. The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the petitioner was not given an adequate opportunity to present their case and requested a personal hearing to demonstrate the discrepancies with documentary evidence. On the other hand, the Additional Government Pleader (Tax) for the respondent contended that no reply was received from the petitioner after the notice was issued.

He suggested that the petitioner should approach the appropriate authority with all necessary documents for fresh consideration. After hearing both sides and reviewing the materials presented, a single bench of Justice N. Senthilkumar decided to set aside the impugned order dated October 12, 2023, based on the mismatch between the GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B returns. The Court acknowledged the petitioner’s willingness to submit all relevant documents and explanations to the first respondent. Therefore, the Court has remanded the case back to the first respondent for fresh consideration. The petitioner is directed to submit a reply with all requisite documents within two weeks. The first respondent is then instructed to pass an appropriate order on the merits and in accordance with the law within four weeks from receiving a copy of the Court’s order. The writ petition was disposed of on these terms without any costs, and the connected miscellaneous petitions were also closed.