Introduction

This judgment of the Kerala High Court clarifies the distinction between an intimation issued before adjudication and a statutory show cause notice under Section 74 of the CGST Act. The Division Bench held that although the learned Single Judge had erroneously treated an earlier intimation (Ext.P2) as the notice under Section 74, the subsequent notice issued in Form GST DRC-01 under Rule 142(1)(a) fulfilled the statutory requirements.

The Court further held that questions relating to the validity or sufficiency of the statutory show cause notice involve issues that can appropriately be examined by the statutory appellate authority. Since the appellant had already participated in the adjudication by filing a reply to the notice, the writ jurisdiction was not the proper forum to challenge the proceedings. Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed with liberty to pursue the statutory appellate remedy.