Writ Petition Filed against SCN without Filing Reply was Pre-mature & not Maintainable: HC

Case Details: Coimbatore Compressor Engineering Company (P.) Ltd. v. Assistant/Deputy Commissioner of GST and Central Excise - [2023] 149 taxmann.com 215 (Madras)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Abdul Quddhose, J.
• Ms Naveena D. for the Petitioner.
• Ms Hema Murali Krishnan & V. Sundareswaran for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was supplying materials to railways. It received show cause notice from the department and it was alleged that goods were not correctly classified. The petitioner filed writ petition to challenge the notice by contending that the impugned goods could not be used for any other purpose as same was exclusively designed for use by railways.

According to the petitioner, arbitrarily and by total non-application of mind and without any data to that effect, the petitioner had been called upon to explain under the impugned show cause notice as to why the classification in respect of the petitioner’s goods will not fall under Chapters 84 and 85 of the Customs Tariff Act 1975

However, the department contended that after making minor alterations, the impugned goods sold could be used for other purposes also.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the impugned show cause notice had given reasons as to why goods would be classifiable under Chapters 84 and 85 of Customs Tariff Act and not under Chapter 86. The petitioner had to respond to SCN stating his objections but without responding to impugned SCN the petitioner had approached Court prematurely. Therefore, the Court dismissed the petition and petitioner was directed to submit reply to impugned SCN.