The Calcutta High Court has set aside an ex parte GST assessment order and the corresponding appellate order after finding that statutory notices had been uploaded under the “Additional Notices/Orders” tab of the GST portal instead of the standard “Notices/Orders” tab.
The bench of Justice Kausik Chanda observed that a taxpayer cannot be blamed for failing to respond to notices that were not displayed in the manner prescribed by the GST portal’s own guidance.
The petitioner argued that neither the pre-show cause notice, the show cause notice, nor the adjudication order had been uploaded under the regular “Notices/Orders” tab on the GST common portal. Instead, they were placed under a separate “Additional Notices/Orders” tab.
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According to the petitioner, he routinely monitored the “Notices/Orders” section because all previous communications from the tax department had appeared there. Since there was no reason to suspect that notices would be uploaded elsewhere, he remained unaware of the proceedings.
Consequently, the Assistant Commissioner proceeded ex parte and passed the assessment order on August 17, 2024. The petitioner came to know of the order only on August 12, 2025, after which he immediately filed an appeal after depositing 10% of the disputed tax amounting to ₹2,52,090. However, the appellate authority rejected the appeal.
The department contended that the GST Network (GSTN) operates an integrated online platform serving both taxpayers and tax officers. It submitted that the interface available to tax officers differs from the taxpayer’s portal.
The department explained that tax officers issue notices and orders through designated tabs available on their dashboard and have no control over how those communications are displayed on the taxpayer’s portal. It further stated that there was no separate “Additional Notices and Orders” tab on the officers’ interface and that the system automatically determined where communications would appear on the taxpayer’s dashboard.
At the same time, the department acknowledged that notices and orders issued by officers were indeed being displayed under the “Additional Notices/Orders” tab on the taxpayer’s interface.
The bench observed that the positions taken by both parties clearly established that the impugned notices and orders had been made available only under the “Additional Notices/Orders” tab.
The Court noted that the Revenue’s own submissions demonstrated that GSTN was aware of this technical issue. It was also informed that the problem had subsequently been resolved by removing the “Additional Notices and Orders” tab from the GST portal with effect from February 6, 2026.
The High Court held that the petitioner could not be held responsible for failing to participate in the adjudication proceedings when he had a bona fide belief that no notice had been issued against him.
The Court also referred to the GST website manual and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), which indicate that statutory notices are expected to appear under the “Notices/Orders” tab. In these circumstances, the Court concluded that the ex parte assessment could not be sustained.
Allowing the writ petition, the High Court quashed both the assessment order dated August 17, 2024, and the appellate order dated September 16, 2025.
However, the Court granted liberty to the Revenue to initiate fresh adjudication proceedings by issuing a fresh notice within one month. It further directed that the limitation period for completing the proceedings would commence from the date of the fresh notice, thereby ensuring that the dispute is decided after providing the taxpayer a proper opportunity of hearing.
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