HC Remanded Matter Back for Re-Adjudication Since Assessee Was a Semi-Literate Person & Not Aware About Proceedings

Case Details: Tvl. Rajaiah v. Deputy State Tax Officer-II - [2024] 162 taxmann.com 206 (Madras)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • C. Saravanan, J.
  • Raja Karthikeyan for the Petitioner.
  • R. Suresh Kumar for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was a small time contractor and the GST department issued show cause notice to submit records for allotment of work. The petitioner did not file any reply against the notice and the department passed the assessment order. Thereafter, the petitioner filed writ petition to challenge the order and contended that he was unaware of the date on which the hearing was fixed and thus failed to participate in the proceedings.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the petitioner was a semi-literate person and might have not been fully aware of implications of notices issued by tax department. However, in the instant case, the petitioner was issued with a notice in Form GST-DRC-01 along with show cause notice and thereafter the petitioner was issued with personal hearing notices on four occasions.

But, the petitioner failed to respond to the same. Therefore, the Court held that it was inclined to give partial relief to the petitioner and the impugned order was liable to be set aside. The Court also directed the department to pass fresh order on merits.