M/S Girish Chandra Bhatt Contractor vs Commissioner Uttarakhand State Goods And Service Tax Commissionerate And Others

Pankaj Purohit, J

Heard learned counsel for the parties.

Petitioner is before this Court, feeling aggrieved by the order dated 26.12.2023 (Annexure No.1), whereby, the tax liability and penalty along with interest was imposed upon the petitioner.

It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that before passing aforesaid order, petitioner has got a right to be issued a show-cause notice by the respondent-department under Section 73 (1) of the Uttarakhand Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter to be referred to be as the Act).

It is further submitted by learned counsel for the petitioner that though the show-cause notice to the petitioner was uploaded in the official website of the respondent-department, but the same could not be accessed by the petitioner due to technical snag in the official website of the respondent-department.

An innocuous prayer is being made by the learned counsel for the petitioner that if the show-cause notice is given to the petitioner physically, petitioner shall reply the same and this way, he will have an opportunity to contest the claim on merits.

The proposition so offered by the learned counsel for the petitioner is not opposed by learned counsel for the respondents.

Accordingly, writ petition is allowed. The impugned order dated 26.12.2023 (annexure No.1) is hereby quashed. Petitioner is directed to visit the office of the respondent No.2 within 07 days from today. If the petitioner appears before the proper officer, the proper officer shall give the copy of the show-cause notice under Section 73(1) of the Act to the petitioner immediately and petitioner shall submit the reply thereon to the proper officer within 15 days there from. The proper officer shall accordingly decide the objection filed by the petitioner thereafter and to pass the appropriate orders as per law.

Pending application(s), if any, also stands disposed of.