The Bombay High Court has come down on the failure of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) to furnish copies of documents it had seized nearly six years ago. 

The Bench of Justice Anil S. Kilor and Justice Raj D. Wakode issued notice and stayed any coercive recovery action and directed DGGI to hand over the withheld documents before the next date of hearing.

The petitioner/assessee challenged an order-in-appeal passed by the Deputy Commissioner of State Tax, Nagpur. The appellate authority had dismissed the petitioner’s appeal on the ground that it could not be adjudicated for want of supporting evidence and documents, coupled with the petitioner’s non-appearance.

Makarand Joshi, the Counsel on behalf of the petitioner drew the Court’s attention to a crucial finding recorded by the appellate authority itself that the petitioner/taxpayer had sought time to file its defence on the basis of documents it was still trying to collect.

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The petitioner’s central grievance was that DGGI had seized documents from it on 6th September 2020. Over four years later, on 20th January 2025, the petitioner formally requested copies of these very documents from DGGI to enable it to prepare its defence in the tax appeal. Despite this request, the documents were never supplied.

The petitioner argued that this failure directly prejudiced the petitioner, since the appellate authority went on to dismiss the appeal citing an absence of supporting evidence — evidence that lay in the custody of the department itself and had not been returned despite a specific request.

The court issued the Notice to the respondents, made returnable on 6th August 2026. Shri A. J. Gohokar, learned Assistant Government Pleader, waived service of notice on behalf of all respondents.

The court directed the respondents not to take any coercive steps against the petitioner in the meanwhile.

The court directed the DGGI to supply copies of the documents sought by the petitioner vide its communication dated 20th January 2025, before the returnable date and if DGGI fails to supply the documents before the returnable date, it must file an affidavit explaining the reasons for non-compliance or disclosing any legal impediment preventing it from doing so.

This order is a reminder that the right to a fair opportunity of defence in tax and GST proceedings is meaningless if a taxpayer is denied access to the very documents seized from it by the investigating authority. By directing DGGI to either comply or justify its non-compliance on affidavit, the Bombay High Court has signalled that document custody by the department cannot be used, even indirectly, to disadvantage a taxpayer in parallel adjudication or appellate proceedings.

The interim protection against coercive action, granted at the notice stage itself, also offers the petitioner breathing room while the larger challenge to the appellate order is heard. The matter will now be closely watched for how DGGI responds by the next returnable date of 6th August 2026, and whether the appellate order under challenge is ultimately sustained or set aside for denial of natural justice.

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