Allahabad High Court Seeks Response Of GST Authority On Software Glitches Causing Harassment Of Poor Assessees

The Allahabad High Court has sought the response of the Central Goods & Services Tax (CGST) Authority in a case relating to technical glitches in its software for issuing online show cause notices to alleged defaulters. A Single Bench of Justice Pankaj Bhatia noted that due to the said glitch, a concerned assessee was merely served the show cause notice via e-post, without the reasons for issuance of such notice, thereby rendering him incapable of effectively defending/ presenting his case before the authority. "It appears that the system and the operators are solely responsible for the harassment being meted out to the poor assesses…this Court is unable to decipher whether, the harassment to the taxpayer is a personal one or the system/service provider is to be blamed," the Court said wile issuing notice to the Revenue Secretary (Tax). In the facts of the case, the Assistant Commissioner, CGST had issued show cause notice to the Petitioner firm, proposing to cancel his registration certificate on the ground that it has failed to file the return for a continuous period of six months. The reason specified for the same in the notice read as under: "Reason for revocation of cancellation – Others" The Court observed that on account of the authority's arbitrary action in serving the notice without clearly mentioning the reasons, the assessee was forced to approach one forum after the other, wasting his considerable financial resources as well as time, despite the fact that it had submitted all the pending returns along with late fees. It thus imposed cost of Rs. 10,000/- on the Assistant Commissioner, vide order dated November 21, 2020, for demonstrating lack of legally trained mind. It further directed that the cost shall be paid to the petitioner within 30 days by the Assistant Commissioner from his own salary. During the hearing held on January 11, the Assistant Commissioner urged the Court to recall its November 21 order and expunge the remarks made personally against him. Senior Advocate Anoop Trivedi, appearing for the Assistant Commissioner, submitted that while uploading the contents to be included in the show-cause notice, he had mentioned the following remarks:- "Interest due arising from late filing of return has not been paid". He further submitted that whereas he had duly mentioned the reason for issuing show cause notice, the same were not included in the e-post due to technical error for which the technical team is analysing and the outcome would be communicated shortly. It was argued that the service agency namely 'Wipro' is probably at mistake. Based on these submissions, the Court decided to ascertain the liability of the person concerned whosoever he may be, for the glitches that have occasioned harassment to the petitioner and to fix cost thereafter on the person concerned. It directed Standing Counsel Ramesh Chandra Shukla to file the Government's response on or before the next date fixed. The Bench further proceeded to stay the November 21 order for payment of cost to the Petitioner till the next date, i.e. February 3, 2021. "This Court is of the view that a direction for payment of cost as against the applicant and the observations shall remain stayed till the next date." Case Title: M/S Ansari Construction v. Additional Commissioner, CGST(Appeals) & Ors. Click Here To Download Order Dated November 21 Click Here To Download Order Dated January 11

Allahabad High Court Seeks Response Of GST Authority On Software Glitches Causing Harassment Of Poor Assessees

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