HC Allowed Assessee to Respond to Allegations Set Out in Such Memo Which Was Quoted in SCN Proposing Cancellation

Case Details: Steelmart India v. Principal Commissioner of Goods and Services Tax - [2024] 165 taxmann.com 216 (Delhi)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Vibhu Bakhru & Sachin Datta, JJ.
• Pranay Jain & Karan Singh, Advs. for the Petitioner.
• Ms Sonu Bhatnagar, Sr SC, Ms Nishtha Mittal, Ms Apurva Singh, Ms K.S. Marry Jonet, Advs. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was a registered person and its GST registration was suspended GST authorities. The department issued show cause notice (SCN) proposing to cancel registration and the petitioner submitted that it had not received memo mentioned in SCN, therefore was unable to respond to said notice. It filed writ petition against the SCN and contended that it was not provided with the copy of memo along with SCN.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the SCN was issued based on a memo sent by proper officer and registration was suspended from date of SCN. The memo was not provided to petitioner along with SCN and the opportunity should have been granted to petitioner to respond to allegations set out in memo. Therefore, the Court held that the petition was disposed of by permitting petitioner to respond to allegations as set out in counter affidavit.