M/s. Ashish Syndicate vs The Deputy Commercial Tax Officer-I
- Court
- Madras High Court
WP Nos.45129 and 45132 of 2026
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 12-11-2026
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE KRISHNAN RAMASAMY
WP Nos. 45129 and 45132 of 2026
and WMP Nos.50650, 50651, 50653 and 50655 of 2026
CNR:{HCMA012601212026}
M/s. Ashish Syndicate
Represented by its Proprietor Ashish Kumar Prakash
Chand Jain
Old No. 23, New No. 45, Audiappa Naicken Street,
Sowcarpet, Chennai 600 079.
..Petitioner in both W.Ps.
Vs
The Deputy Commercial Tax Officer-I
Sowcarpet Assessment Circle,
No.32,Integrated Commercial Taxes
Office Building Complex,
Elephant Gate Bridge Road,
Vepery, Chennai 600 003.
..Respondent in both
W.Ps.
WP No. 45129 of 2026
PRAYER: The Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of
India seeking the issuance of a Writ of Certiorari calling for the records
pertaining to the Impugned assessment order passed on 12.12.2025 by the
respondent against the petitioner’s firm in GSTIN 33AAIPP2432PIZG in
Reference No. ZD3312251898170 for the assessment year 2021-2022 and
Quash the same as illegal and principles of natural justice
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WP Nos.45129 and 45132 of 2026
WP No. 45132 of 2026
PRAYER: The Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of
India seeking the issuance of a Writ of Certiorari calling for the records
pertaining to the impugned assessment order passed on 12.12.2025 by the
respondent against the petitioner’s firm in GSTIN 33AAIPP2432PIZG in
Reference No. ZD3312251895663 for the assessment year 2021-2022 and
Quash the same as illegal, arbitrary and against the principles of natural justice.
For Petitioner(s):
Mr. K.M. Malarmannan
in both W.Ps.
For Respondent(s):
Mr. I. Dinesh
Additional Government Pleader (Taxes)
in both W.Ps.
COMMON ORDER
The present Writ Petition has been filed challenging the order in
Reference Nos. ZD3312251898170 and ZD3312251895663 both dated
12.12.2025 passed by the respondent
2. Mr. I. Dinesh, learned Additional Government Pleader (Taxes) takes
notice on behalf of the respondent. By consent of the parties, the main Writ
Petition is taken up for disposal at the admission stage itself.
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WP Nos.45129 and 45132 of 2026
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 respondent without providing any opportunity of personal hearing to the
petitioner. Therefore, this petition has been filed.
4. Further, he would submit that the petitioner is voluntarily willing to
pay 25% of the disputed tax amount to the respondent. To that effect, he has
also made an endorsement in the Court bundle. Hence, he requests this Court to
grant an opportunity to the petitioner to present their case before the
respondent by setting aside the impugned orders.
5. On the other hand, the learned Additional Government Pleader
appearing for the respondents would submit that the respondent had uploaded
the notices in the GST Online Portal. But the petitioner failed to avail the said
opportunity. Further, he has fairly admitted that no opportunity of personal
hearing was provided to the petitioner prior to the passing of impugned order.
Therefore, he requested this Court to remit the matter back to the respondent,
subject to the payment of 25% of the disputed tax amount by the petitioner.
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WP Nos.45129 and 45132 of 2026
6. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Additional
Government Pleader for the respondents 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
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WP Nos.45129 and 45132 of 2026
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. Further, it was submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that
the petitioner is willing to pay 25% of the disputed tax amount to the
respondent in respect of each impugned order. In such view of the matter, this
Court is inclined to set aside the impugned orders passed by the respondent.
Accordingly, this Court passes the following order:-
(i) The impugned orders both dated 12.12.2025 are set aside
and the matters are remanded to the respondent for fresh
consideration on condition that the petitioner pays 25% of
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WP Nos.45129 and 45132 of 2026
disputed tax amount to the respondent in respect of each
impugned order within a period of four (4) weeks from the
date of receipt of a copy of this order. The setting aside of the
impugned order will take effect from the date of payment of
the said amount.
(ii) The petitioner shall file their reply/objection along with
the required documents, if any, within a period of three weeks
from the date of payment of amount as stated above.
(iii) On filing of such reply/objection by the petitioner, the
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.
11. With the above directions, these Writ Petitions are disposed of. There
shall be no order as to costs. W.M.P.Nos.50653 and 50650 of 2026 filed to
dispense with the production of the original impugned orders, are allowed.
Consequently, the connected Miscellaneous Petitions are closed.
12-11-2026
Asi
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WP Nos.45129 and 45132 of 2026
To
The Deputy Commercial Tax Officer-I
Sowcarpet Assessment Circle,
No.32,Integrated Commercial Taxes
Office Building Complex,
Elephant Gate Bridge Road,
Vepery, Chennai 600 003.
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WP Nos.45129 and 45132 of 2026
KRISHNAN RAMASAMY J.
Asi
WP Nos. 45129 and 45132 of 2026
and WMP Nos.50650, 50651, 50653 and 50655 of 2026
12-11-2026
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