Appellate Authority Shouldn’t Dismiss Appeal on Ground of Limitation Without Affording Any Opportunity of Hearing | HC

Case Details: Jayanta Ghosh v. State of West Bengal - [2024] 160 taxmann.com 223 (Calcutta)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Gaurang Kanth, J.
  • Kalyan Kumar Chakraborty, Debojit Kundu & Vivek Kumar Pandey for the Petitioner.
  • Dilip Kumar Agarwal & Momemur Rahman for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

In the present case, the petitioner received a show cause notice and an order was passed under Section 74 of the GST Act. However, he had not been given an opportunity of personal hearing. He filed appeal against the order but the Appellate Authority dismissed the appeal on the ground of limitation. It filed writ petition and challenged the order.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court observed that where an adverse decision is contemplated against a person, such a person even need not to request for opportunity of personal hearing and it is mandatory for the authority concerned to afford opportunity of personal hearing before passing an order adverse of such person.

In the instant case, the Appellate Authority had violated the principle of natural justice by not affording an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner. Therefore, the Court held that the delay in filing of the appeal is to be condoned and the Appellate Authority was directed to decide the appeal on merits after affording personal hearing opportunity to the petitioner.