M/S Sarveshwari Industries and Anr v. The State of Assam and 2 Ors

ORDER Date : 08/08/2023

Heard Mr. P.J. Saikia, learned senior counsel assisted by Mr.R.S. Mishra, learned counsel for the writ petitioners. Also heard Mr. B. Gogoi, learned Standing Counsel, GST authorities, appearing for the respondent nos. 1, 2 and 3. Assailing the notice dated 03/07/2023 issued by the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, Guwahati, Unit-B i.e. the respondent no. 3 directing the petitioners to show cause within 30(thirty) days from the date of receipt of the notice as to why, an amount of Rs. 1,73,22,888/- should not be levied upon the petitioners as unpaid GST dues along with penalty, the instant writ petition has been filed. Mr. Saikia, submits that the impugned notice has been issued by invoking the provisions of Section 61 of the GST Act, 2017. However, the basis of the notice is not re-assessment of the returns submitted by the petitioners but inputs received from external sources and, therefore, the impugned notice is not maintainable in the eyes of law. It is also the submission of Mr. Saikia that the impugned notice does not reflect the basis on which allegation with regard to deficiency in the returns filed by the petitioners has been made, as a result of which, the petitioners have been denied a proper Page No.# 3/3 opportunity of making an effective reply. Mr. Gogoi, learned departmental counsel submits that since these issues can be raised before the GST authorities, the writ petition be disposed of by directing the respondents to consider the grievance of the petitioners after examining the show cause reply submitted by them. After hearing the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties and also upon going through the impugned notice dated 03/07/2023, this Court finds that no decision has yet been taken by the authorities in the matter. However, since some serious allegations have been brought against the petitioners, they would be entitled to receive complete particulars as regards the deficiency, if any, in filing the return before an effective reply can be made. Therefore, this writ petition is being disposed of by providing that within two weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order, the respondent no. 3 to furnish full and better particulars to the petitioners as regards the nature of deficiency, if any, in the matter of filing of GST returns, by giving them at-least three weeks time to submit reply. Facilitating the above, the petitioners to produce a certified copy of this order before the respondent no. 3 by tomorrow i.e. 09/08/2023. Mr. Gogoi may also communicate the order of this Court to the departmental authorities. Until such time, the aforesaid exercise is completed and a reasoned order is passed after taking note of the show cause reply submitted by the petitioners, no coercive action be initiated against them. With the above observations, the writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE

sukhamay Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010170462023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/4513/2023o M/SoSARVESHWARIoINDUSTRIESoANDoANRo AoPROPRIETORSHIPoCONCERNoHAVINGoITSoREGISTEREDoOFFICEoATo2NDo FLOOR,oH.NO.o11431770,o KEJRIWALoCOMPLEX,oS.J.oROAD,o ATHGAON,oGUWAHATI,oKAMRUP(M),o ASSAM,o781001,oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoSOLEoPROPRIETOR,o I.E.oTHEoPETITIONERoNO.o1. 2:oKAMALoAGARWAL oSONoOFoSRIoMAHESHoPRASADoAGARWAL o RESIDENToOFo2NDoFLOOR o H.oNO.-o1143170 oKEJRIWALoCOMPLEX o S.J.oROAD oATHGAON oGUWAHATI o KAMRUP(M) oASSAM oPIN-o781001o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo2oORSo REPoBYoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVToOFoASSAM,o FINANCEo(TAXATION)oDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-06,o KAMRUP(M),oASSAM. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoOFoTAXESoASSAM oKARoBHAWAN Page No.# 2/3 G.S. ROAD DISPUR GUWAHATI-6 KAMRUP(M) ASSAM. 3:THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF STATE TAX KAR BHAWAN GUWAHATI UNIT-B GUWAHATI-6 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. P J SAIKIA, SR. ADV Advocate for the Respondent : SC, FINANCE AND TAXATION BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM