The Madhya Pradesh High Court has advised the GST department to consider sending hearing dates by SMS or email to taxpayers or their advocates, in addition to its existing method of serving notices through the GST portal.
The Bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar and Justice Alok Awasthi has set aside an order dismissing a company’s GST appeal for non-appearance and directed the appellate authority to decide it afresh after giving the company an opportunity to be heard and noted that the company had deposited ₹6,04,788 to pursue its appeal against a tax demand of Rs. 81,46,488 and claimed it had not been properly informed of the hearing dates.
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The petitioner/assessee had challenged a demand raised by the Deputy Commissioner of State Tax, Indore, on September 7, 2022. It filed a first appeal on October 17, 2022, after making the required pre-deposit.
According to the High Court’s order, the appeal was formally accepted on December 20, 2023. A personal hearing notice was uploaded under the GST portal’s “Additional notices/Orders” tab, and later notices were placed in the same tab. The appellate authority ultimately dismissed the appeal on March 5, 2026, for non-prosecution, recording that hearing notices had been issued on February 9, 2024, March 21, 2024, and March 2, 2026.
The company maintained that it did not know about those notices and expected the hearing date to be communicated to it properly. It approached the High Court seeking to have the dismissal set aside and the appeal heard on its merits.
The company argued that its appeal should not have been rejected solely because it failed to appear, particularly after it had made the pre-deposit. Its counsel also disputed whether uploading notices in the portal tab amounted to proper service.
The High Court discussed Sections 111 and 113 of the GST law in addressing the argument about dismissal for default and the remedies available in appellate proceedings. It nevertheless held, on the facts before it, that the company should not be left without an effective opportunity to pursue its first appeal. The judges considered the pre-deposit significant, observing that there appeared to be no reason for the company to abandon an appeal it had paid to pursue.
The court did not decide whether the underlying ₹81.46 lakh tax demand was valid. That question remains for the appellate authority to examine.
Court Suggests SMS and Email Alerts for Hearings
Addressing the dispute over notice, the Bench observed that it was seeing many cases in which taxpayers complained that they had not received notices from the department. It advised the department to introduce a simple additional step, such as sending an SMS or email about the hearing date to the taxpayer or advocate. Such communication, the court said, could help avoid litigation arising from service-of-notice disputes.
The High Court set aside the March 5, 2026 appellate order and remanded the matter for a fresh decision after a due opportunity of hearing. To prevent further delay, it directed the company to appear before the appellate authority on September 30, 2026.
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