HC Directed Assessing Officer to Provide Opportunity to Assessee to Submit Reply who Requested for Extension of Time

Case Detail: Sri Ranganathar Constructions (P.) Ltd. v. Assistant Commissioner (ST) (FAC) - [2024] 160 taxmann.com 633 (Madras)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, J.
• S. Rajasekar for the Petitioner.
• V. Prashanth Kiran, Adv. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was a works contractor and registered dealer under GST. The department had conducted an inspection of petitioner’s registered place of business and issued an intimation which was followed by a show cause notice (SCN). The petitioner replied to the intimation by pointing out that two months’ time was required to reply on account of verification being undertaken by the DGGI.

However, the reply of the petitioner was not taken into account and the petitioner was not provided time as requested in the said reply & the impugned order was issued. It filed writ petition against the order and contended that the reply was not considered.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the petitioner’s reply was placed on record and it had requested for two months’ time to reply by citing the pending proceedings at the instance of the Central GST Authorities. However, the same was not taken into account and the impugned order was passed.

Therefore, the Court held that the impugned order was liable to be set aside and Assessing Officer was directed to provide opportunity to assessee, including personal hearing and thereafter issue fresh order.