ARUN KUMAR DUTTA vs STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ORS.

08.09.26
02 Ct. No.10
AGM
WPA 6436 of 2026

Arun Kumar Dutta
vs.
The State of West Bengal & Ors.

Mr. Himangshu Kumar Ray.
Mr. Subhasis Podder.
Ms. Shiwani Shaw.
Mr. Rantu Bose.
….for the petitioner

Mr. Bijitesh Mukherjee.
Ms. Manasi Mukherjee.
….for the State-respondents

1. Affidavit of service filed in Court today be
kept with the record.
2. The present writ petition has been filed
challenging inter alia, the legality and validity of
the adjudication order dated 23.08.2024 passed
by the respondent No. 4 and the appellate order
dated 28.01.2026 passed by the respondent no. 3
under Section 107 of the West Bengal Goods and
Services Tax Act(hereinafter referred to as the said
‘WBGST Act’) and the Central Goods and Services
Tax Act, 2017(hereinafter referred to as the said
‘CGST Act’), whereby the appeal of the petitioner
has been dismissed on ground of limitation.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits
as follows;
i. That a show cause notice in Form DRC 01 dated
16.05.2024 has been issued to the petitioner
demanding tax, interest and penalty.

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ii. That said notice has been uploaded on the
GST portal under the tab ‘Additional Notice and
Orders’.
iii. The petitioner came to know the
adjudication order dated 23.08.2024 only upon
receiving a phone call from the respondent no. 4
on the last week of January 2026.
iv. That the petitioner preferred an appeal
before the appellate authority under Section 107
of the said Act but the same has been dismissed
solely on the ground of limitation, without
considering the merits.
v. That the entire proceedings and the
impugned order are contrary to law and have been
passed in violation of principles of natural justice
and without due compliance with the procedure
prescribed under the said Act.
4. Learned counsel appearing for the State
respondents vehemently opposes the submissions
made by the petitioner and submits that it is an
admitted fact that hard copies of the show cause
notice was already received by the petitioner,
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which is evident from the letter dated 23 August,
2024 being Annexure p/4 at page 61 of the writ
petition. It is further submitted that the petitioner
has been granted ample opportunities to defend

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his case, the appeal has been rightly dismissed on
limitation.
5. Having heard the parties and upon
perusing the records made available this Court
observes as follows;
i. The petitioner has been able to make out
a prima facie case.
ii. The fact that show cause notice and
adjudication order had been uploaded
only under the ‘tab Additional Notice and
Orders’ and no separate intimation had
been given, therefore, the petitioner was
unable to reply to the same. This
constitutes a violation of natural justice.
6. Since the petitioner’s appeal has been
dismissed by the appellate authority only on the
ground of limitation and not on merits,
considering the peculiar facts of the case,
interference by this Court is warranted in ends of
justice.

7. In view of the above this Court directs as
follows:
a. The order passed by the Appellate
Authority dated 28.01.2026 is hereby
quashed and set aside.
b. Respondent no. 3 is directed to revisit the
issue by admitting the appeal preferred by

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the petitioner and consider the appeal on
merits.
c. Respondent no. 3 shall afford an
opportunity of hearing to the petitioner
and pass a fresh reasoned order in
accordance with law within 12 weeks from
date. Such decision shall be
communicated to the petitioner within a
week thereafter.

8. With the above observations and
directions this writ petition stands disposed of.
9. Since no affidavit in opposition has been
called for, the allegations contained in the writ
petition are deemed to have been denied and not
admitted.
10. Urgent Photostat certified copy of this
order be supplied to the parties, if applied for, as
early as possible.

(Smita Das De, J.)