HC Permits Assessee to Approach Appellate Authority as He Was Unaware of Proceedings Due to Death of His Consultant

Case Details: Samadhu Medicals v. Deputy State Tax Officer/Deputy Commercial Tax Officer - [2024] 158 taxmann.com 251 (Madras)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Krishnan Ramasamy, J.
  • Rajkumar P. for the Petitioner.
  • Mrs K. Vasanthamala, Government Advocate (Tax) for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was a registered dealer and proceedings were initiated against it by the department due to the input mismatch between GSTR-3B and GSTR 2A. The order was passed by the department and the petitioner filed writ petition to quash the demand order. It was submitted that the petitioner was not aware of the initiation of impugned proceedings against him and only when the petitioner’s bank account came to be attached, the petitioner came to know about the impugned proceedings and immediately, the petitioner approached the Court for quashing the impugned orders.

The department submitted that before passing the impugned order, the communication with regard to initiation of the impugned proceedings were sent to the number/mail address provided by the petitioner and the petitioner can’t plead ignorance of the impugned orders.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the petitioner was not in a position to know about the impugned proceedings initiated against it since the person who was filing the returns had passed away. The Court also noted that the only remedy available to the petitioner is to file appeal before the Appellate Authority. Therefore, the Court held that the petitioner would be at liberty to approach Appellate Authority by way of filing an appeal within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.