GST Demand Of Over ₹10 Crores Raised Without Considering Assessee's Stand: Delhi High Court Orders Fresh Adjudication

The Delhi High Court has asked the Adjudicating Authority under Central Goods and Service Tax Act 2017 to undertake fresh adjudication of the show cause notice issued to an assessee, raising demand of more than ₹10 crores.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta did so after noting that such a “substantial” demand was made without even considering the assessee's reply.“Clearly, a substantial demand of more than Rs.10 crores has been raised without considering the stand of the Petitioner despite the fact that the reply was filed well within time way back,” the Court noted.The allegation against the Petitioner, a leading manufacturer of confectionery in India, was of short payment of GST qua products sold by it.A show cause notice was issued to it asking to show cause why demand should not be raised to the tune of Rs.10,86,92,372/-. Controversy also arose whether Petitioner's products are liable for levy of GST at 12% or 18%.Petitioner claimed it had submitted a reply to the said SCN in detail. However, the impugned final order recorded that no reply was filed.Calling the situation”unfortunate”, the High Court remanded the matter back to the adjudicating authority for a fresh hearing.It observed, “Considering the fact that the reply has been completely ignored by the adjudication authority, the impugned order would not be sustainable. The said Order-in-Original clearly records that no reply was filed. Accordingly, the impugned Order-in-Original is set aside.”The authority is further directed to decide the matter within three months, after hearing the submissions.Appearance: Ms. Charanya Lakshmikumaran, Mr. Yogendra Aldak, Mr. Kunal Kapoor, Mr. Yatharth Tripathi, Advocates for Petitioner; Mr. Shivam, Advocate for Mr. Jatin Singh, Advocate for RespondentCase title: M/S Perfetti Van Melle India Pvt Ltd Additional Commissioner (Adjn.) v. CGST Delhi North & OrsCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 476Case no.: W.P.(C) 2178/2025 Click here to read order

GST Demand Of Over ₹10 Crores Raised Without Considering Assessee's Stand: Delhi High Court Orders Fresh Adjudication

Kapil Dhyani

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