Ashis Ranjan Sahu v. The Chief Commissioner of CT & GST, Odisha & Or

Introduction

This judgment deals with the validity of an ex-parte best judgment assessment under Section 63 of the CGST Act against an unregistered person. The Orissa High Court examined whether an assessment order could be sustained where the Show Cause Notice (SCN) was merely sent to an old e-mail address furnished during the pre-GST VAT regime, without verifying whether the notice had actually reached the taxpayer.

The Court held that mere dispatch of the SCN to a dormant e-mail address does not satisfy the requirement of effective service, particularly where the taxpayer’s GST registration had already been cancelled with effect from 01.07.2017 and he was being proceeded against as an unregistered person. Since the petitioner was deprived of an opportunity of hearing, the ex-parte assessment order was set aside and the matter was remanded for fresh adjudication after granting an effective opportunity to the petitioner.