HC Remanded Matter as Documents Produced by Assessee Were Disregarded and Order Was Passed by Merely Reproducing SCN

Case Details: Jai Bhairav Stones v. State Tax Officer (ST) - [2024] 163 taxmann.com 225 (Madras)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, J.
• J. Adithya Reddy for the Petitioner.
• V. Prashanth Kiran, GA (T) for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was a dealer in granite slabs and a registered person under GST. It received an intimation alleging that the petitioner had availed of Input Tax Credit (ITC) fraudulently. It replied to the intimation and submitted all the requisite documents and also pointed out that previously uploaded documents be taken into consideration.

However, the GST department issued a show cause notice and it was stated that certain suppliers were issuing fake invoices and the petitioner was a beneficiary thereof. It replied to the show cause notice and submitted all the requisite documents. But, the Assessing Officer passed an order disregarding petitioner’s documents and without providing reasonable opportunity of hearing. It filed writ petition against the order issued by the GST department.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the relevant documents such as the invoice, the transporter’s invoice and bank statements were attached to the replies submitted by the petitioner. The Court also noted that the impugned assessment order did not refer to or discuss any of these documents and instead merely reproduced the show cause notice.

Therefore, the Court held that the impugned assessment order was liable to be set aside as it was passed without application of mind to documents produced by petitioner. The Court also directed the department to reconsider the matter after providing reasonable opportunity to submit additional documents and to pass fresh assessment order within two months.