GST Officers Issuing Summons/Arrest Memo Not Required To Be Cross-Examined By Assessee: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court held that GST officers issuing summons/arrest memo are not required to be cross-examined by assessee. Justices Bhargav D. Karia and Pranav Trivedi observed that the assessee wants to cross-examine the persons who belongs to the department who have either issued the summons or arrest memo. Such persons are not required to be cross-examined by the assessee. The assessee/petitioner a proprietor of M/s. KSEG India International was accused of availing the input tax credit on the strength of invoices without receipt of the goods from various bogus firms. The department issued the intimation in Form GST-DRC-01A under Rule 142(1A) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 but no reply of the same was received till the issuance of the show-cause notice. An order was issued confirming the demand of Rs. 14.52 crores along with interest and penalty. The assessee submitted that the order is passed without giving an opportunity of hearing to the assessee or his Advocate and without affording any opportunity of cross-examination. The assessee further submitted that the Authority never intimated the petitioner that the cross-examination, so far as the Officers of the Departments are concerned, could not be granted though they are the persons who have issued the summons and also named in the relied upon documents and the petitioner was required to cross-examine the Officers of the Department so as to bring on record the way in which the inquiry was conducted by the Department. Regarding the contention raised on behalf of the assessee that the assessee not been granted an opportunity of cross-examination of the persons who were named in the application dated 04.10.2024, the bench opined that out of the five persons, four belongs to the Department who have either issued the summons or arrest memo and therefore, such persons are not required to be cross-examined by the assessee and therefore, the respondent No.2 has rightly not granted the cross-examination of such Departmental Officers to the assessee. The bench opined that the assessee has an alternative efficacious remedy to challenge the order by preferring an Appeal under Section 107 of the GST Act. In view of the above, the bench dismissed the petition with a liberty to the assessee to file statuary Appeal as provided under Section 107 of the GST Act. Case Title: Sazid Ali Khan v. Office of Principal Commissioner, Central GST and Central Excise Commissionerate, Vadodara-I & Ors. Case Number: R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 6437 of 2025 Counsel for Petitioner/Assessee: Pavan S Godiawala Counsel for Respondent/Department: Neel P Lakhani for respondent no.1,2, Abhishek D. Jain, AGP for the Respondent No. 3, Pradip D Bhate for the Respondent No. 4. Click Here To Read/Download The Order Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Guj) 111

GST Officers Issuing Summons/Arrest Memo Not Required To Be Cross-Examined By Assessee: Gujarat High Court

Mehak Dhiman

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