Adjournment on Medical Grounds – HC Sets Aside GST Order

Case Details: Jai Optical vs. Govt. of NCT of Delhi - [2025] 174 taxmann.com 393 (Delhi)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Pratibha M. Singh & Rajneesh Kumar Gupta, JJ.
• Sourabh Goel, Ankit Goel, Ms Geetika Sharma, Advs. for the Petitioner.
• Ms Vaishali Gupta, Adv. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner, a GST-registered entity, received show cause notices from the department demanding tax or Input Tax Credit (ITC) liability. In response to these notices, the petitioner submitted a detailed reply stating that the proprietor had suffered a brain stroke and was medically incapacitated, thereby requesting an adjournment of the hearing. The petitioner supported this request by furnishing all relevant medical documents from Indraprastha Apollo Hospital to substantiate the serious medical condition.

Despite the petitioner’s clear request for adjournment on valid medical grounds, the department proceeded to pass the impugned order without considering or granting the adjournment, and without affording the petitioner an opportunity of hearing. Aggrieved by this, the petitioner filed a petition before the Delhi High Court challenging the impugned order on the grounds that the department’s refusal to consider the adjournment violated principles of natural justice, especially since the demand involved no allegation of fraud.

High Court Held

The Hon’ble Delhi High Court held that the department ought to have considered the petitioner’s request for adjournment empathetically, given that the medical ground was supported by credible hospital documents. The Court found that passing the impugned order without affording the petitioner a fair opportunity to be heard was a procedural impropriety and a breach of natural justice.

Emphasising that valid medical grounds must be accommodated in the absence of any fraud, the Court set aside the impugned order and directed the department to reconsider the matter after providing the petitioner a reasonable opportunity of hearing.