SARAT CHANDRA GHORAI vs STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ORS.

3.9.26
05 Ct. No.10
AGM
WPA 4976 of 2026

Sarat Chandra Ghorai
vs.
The State of West Bengal & Ors.

Mr. Bhaskar Sengupta.
….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 petition has been filed
challenging inter alia, the legality and validity of
the adjudication order dated 06.04.2024 passed
by the respondent No. 3 and the appellate order
dated 03.12.2025 passed by the respondent no.4
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
9.12.2023 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’. Due to this, the petitioner did not get any
actual intimation and hence could not respond to
the show cause notice.
iii. 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.
iv. 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 opposed the writ petition and
submitted since the petitioner has been granted
ample opportunities to defend his case, by way of
issuance of DRC 01A issued on 20.11.2023,
DRC01 issued on 09.12.2023 and reminder
issued on 26.2.2024, 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;

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i. The petitioner has been able to make a
prima facie case.
ii. The fact that show cause notice has been
only uploaded under the ‘tab Additional
Notice and Orders’ and no separate
intimation has been given therefore the
petitioner has been unable to reply to the
same. This constitutes a violation of
natural justice.

6. Since the petitioners 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 appeal order dated 03.12.2025 and
the adjudication order dated 06.04.2024
are hereby quashed and set aside.

b. The petitioner is directed to file a reply to
the show cause notice dated 09.12.2023
before the concerned authority within two
weeks from date. Such reply shall be
considered within four weeks from the
date of receipt of the reply by passing a
fresh reasoned and speaking order in

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accordance with law upon affording an
opportunity of hearing to the petitioner.
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.)