Officers of Director General of GST Intelligence Are Empowered to Issue Show Cause Notices | HC

Case Details: Famina Shopping Mall (P.) Ltd. v. Assistant Commissioner of GST & Central Excise - [2024] 163 taxmann.com 72 (Madras)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • B. Pugalendhi, J.
  • Ms Aparna Nandakumar for the Petitioner.
  • N. Dilipkumar, Standing Counsel for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was running a departmental store. There was a search and seizure operation in the petitioner’s premises, followed by which, the petitioner was issued with the pre-show cause notice. It filed writ petition to challenge the pre-show cause notice and contended that the notice was issued by the officer who was not proper officer.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the officers of Director General of GST Intelligence are empowered to issue show cause notices as per the Circular No.31/05/2018-GST dated 09.02.2018 issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. The Court further noted that the impugned proceedings was only a pre-show cause notice and it had been issued in Form GST DRC 01A in order to afford an opportunity to the petitioner to resolve the dispute by depositing the tax and interest at pre-show cause notice stage. Thus, the Court held that there was no infirmity in the impugned proceedings and the petition was liable to be dismissed.