Gauhati High Court Quashes GST Proceedings Over Non-Issuance of Proper Show Cause Notice
The Gauhati High Court quashed Goods and Service Tax (GST) proceedings initiated by the Assam State Tax Department, citing failure to adhere to the mandatory provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017.
The bench of Justice Arun Dev Choudhury noted that the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax had issued a summary of show cause notice, and a summary of order without actually issuing the proper show cause notice under Section 73(1) or passing a detailed order under Section 73(9) of the CGST Act.
The petitioner submitted that the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, Dhemaji has issued the summary of show cause notice without issuing any show cause notice under Section 73 (1) of the CGST Act, 2017 and the summary of order dated 30.08.2024 without passing any order under Section 73 (9) of the CGST Act, 2017. It is further the case of the petitioner that he has sought for an opportunity of hearing, however, without giving any opportunity of hearing, the summary of order has been passed.
The department conceded that only a summary notice was issued without the requisite formal show cause notice.
The court relied on the earlier decision of Gauhati High Court’s in Construction Catalysers Pvt. Ltd. vs State of Assam (WP(C) No. 3912/2024) in which it was held that issuing only a summary (GST DRC-01) is not a substitute for a proper notice under Section 73(1), and such procedural lapses render the proceedings void.
The court quashed both the summary of show cause notice and the order, while granting liberty to the department to initiate fresh proceedings in accordance with law, if deemed necessary.
The court directed that the interim period between issuance of the original summary and delivery of this judgment be excluded from the limitation period under Section 73(10) of the CGST Act.
Case Details
Case Title: PHANIDHAR BORSAIKIA Versus THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 2 ORS.
Case No.: WP(C)/1750/2025
Date: 24-06-2025
Counsel For Petitioner: A K Gupta, Mr. R S Mishra,Ms M Nirola
Counsel For Respondent: SC, Finance And Taxation
Mariya is the Senior Editor at JurisHour. She has 5+ years of experience on covering tax litigation stories from the Supreme Court, High Courts and various tribunals including CESTAT, ITAT, NCLAT, NCLT, etc. Mariya graduated from MLSU Law College, Udaipur (Raj.) with B.A.LL.B. and also holds an LL.M. She started as a freelance tax reporter in the leading online legal news companies like LiveLaw & Taxscan.
