WP/40400/2026 of Imtiaz Shariff Vs The Deputy State Tax officer on 12 October 2026

COMMON ORDER

The present Writ Petitions have been filed challenging the orders dated 27.12.2023 and 20.08.2024, along with the consequential summaries of the orders in Form GST DRC-07 and DRC-08 dated 03.12.2024, passed by the first respondent.

2. Ms. G. Dhanamadhri, learned Special Government Pleader (T) takes notice on behalf of the respondent. By consent of the parties, the main Writ Petitions are taken up for disposal at the admission stage itself.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that in these cases, all notices/communications were uploaded by the respondent under the “View Additional Notices and Orders” column in the GST common portal. Since the petitioner was not aware of the said notices, they failed to file their reply within the time. Under these circumstances, the impugned orders came to be passed by the first respondent without providing any opportunity of personal hearing to the petitioner. Hence, the learned counsel requests this Court to grant an opportunity to the petitioner to present their case before the first respondent by setting aside the impugned orders.

5. On the other hand, the learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondent would submit that the first respondent had uploaded the notices in the GST Online Portal. But the petitioner failed to avail the said opportunity. Further, she has fairly admitted that no opportunity of personal hearing was provided to the petitioner prior to the passing of impugned orders. Therefore, she requested this Court to remit the matter back to the first respondent for fresh consideration.

6. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Special Government Pleader for the first respondent and also perused the materials available on record.

7. In the case on hand, it is evident that the show cause notice was uploaded on the GST Portal Tab. According to the petitioner, he was not aware of the issuance of the said show cause notice issued through the GST Portal and the original of the said show cause notice was not furnished to them. In such circumstances, this Court is of the view that the impugned assessment orders came to be passed without affording any opportunity of personal hearing to the petitioner, confirming the proposals contained in the show cause notice.

8. No doubt, sending notice by uploading in portal is a sufficient service, but, the Officer who is sending the repeated reminders, despite the fact that there is no response from the petitioner to the show cause notices etc., should have applied his/her mind and explored the possibility of sending notices by way of other modes prescribed in Section 169 of the GST Act, which are also the valid mode of service under the Act, otherwise it will not be an effective service, rather, it would only amount to fulfilling the empty formalities. Merely passing an ex parte order by fulfilling the empty formalities will not serve any useful purpose and the same will only pave way for multiplicity of litigations, not only wasting the time of the Officer concerned, but also the precious time of the Appellate Authority/Tribunal and this Court as well.

9. Thus, when there is no response from the tax payer to the notice sent through a particular mode, the Officer who is issuing notices should strictly explore the possibilities of sending notices through some other mode as prescribed in Section 169(1) of the Act, preferably by way of RPAD, which would ultimately achieve the object of the GST Act. Therefore, this Court finds that there has been a lack of effort in applying the available opportunities to serve the notices/orders etc., effectively to the petitioner.

10. In such view of the matter, this Court is inclined to set aside the impugned orders dated 27.12.2023 and 20.08.2024 passed by the first respondent. Accordingly, this Court passes the following order:-

(i) The impugned orders dated 27.12.2023 and 20.08.2024, along with the consequential summaries of the orders in Form GST DRC-07 and DRC-08 dated 03.12.2024, passed by the first respondent, are set aside and the matter is remanded to the first respondent for fresh consideration.

(ii) The petitioner shall file their reply/objection along with the required documents, if any, within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order

(iii) On filing of such reply/objection by the petitioner, the first respondent shall consider the same and issue a 14 days clear notice, by fixing the date of personal hearing, to the petitioner and thereafter, pass appropriate orders on merits and in accordance with law, after hearing the petitioner, as expeditiously as possible.

(iv) Considering the fact that the impugned orders itself have been set aside, this Court is of the opinion that the attachment made on the bank account of the petitioner, cannot survive any longer and hence, it is to be lifted. As a sequel, the first respondent is directed to instruct the concerned Bank to release the attachment, and de-freeze the bank account of the petitioner, immediately upon production of a copy of this order.

(v) In the event that the first respondent fails to communicate the lifting of the attachment within the stipulated time, liberty is granted to the petitioner to produce a copy of this order directly to the concerned Bank. Upon production of the same, the Bank is directed to de-freeze the bank account of the petitioner and permit them to operate the account normally.

11. With the above directions, these Writ Petitions are disposed of. No costs. W.M.P.Nos.45359 and 45364 filed to dispense with the production of the impugned orders, are allowed. Consequently, the connected Miscellaneous Petitions are also closed. 12-10-2026 Asi

To

1. The Deputy State Tax officer Deputy commercial Tax officer, Thiruvallikeni Assessment circle station, Integrated commercial taxes building First Floor, Nandanam, Chennai-600 035.

2. The Branch Manager HDFC BankMount Road BranchNo 759 ITC Centre Anna Salai Opposite TVS Chennai Tamil Nadu

3. The Branch Manager South India Bank19 , Ground Floor , Mount Road, Opp, Anna Salai, HPO, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

KRISHNAN RAMASAMY, J. Asi WP Nos. 40400 and 40404 of 2026 and WMP Nos.45359, 45361, 45364 and 45365 and 45671 of 2026 12-10-2026