A GST notice uploaded only under “Additional Notice and Orders” without separate intimation violates natural justice.

The petitioner challenged an adjudication order dated 3 April 2024 and an appellate order dated 29 October 2025, by which her appeal under Section 107 of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act and the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, had been dismissed as time-barred.

She contended that the show-cause notice dated 20 December 2023 was uploaded only under the GST portal’s “Additional Notice and Orders” tab, leaving her without actual intimation or an opportunity to respond.

The State opposed the petition, submitting that the petitioner had been given adequate opportunities.

Whether uploading the show-cause notice only under the GST portal’s “Additional Notice and Orders” tab, without separate intimation, denied the petitioner an effective opportunity to respond and violated natural justice.

Whether, in the circumstances, the Court should set aside the adjudication and appellate orders and permit the petitioner to respond to the show-cause notice notwithstanding the dismissal of her appeal as time-barred.

Section 107 of the WBGST Act and the CGST Act provides for an appeal to the appellate authority.

The Court applied the principle of natural justice that a person must receive an effective opportunity to respond to a show-cause notice before an adverse decision is made; it held that, on the facts, uploading the notice only under the specified portal tab without separate intimation violated that principle.

The Court found that the petitioner had made a prima facie case and accepted that the show-cause notice had been uploaded only under the “Additional Notice and Orders” tab, with no separate intimation.

It concluded that this prevented the petitioner from replying and constituted a violation of natural justice.

Because the appellate authority had dismissed the appeal solely on limitation without considering the merits, the Court found intervention warranted in the interests of justice.

It directed the petitioner to reply to the show-cause notice within two weeks; the authority must consider the reply, afford a hearing, and issue a fresh reasoned order within four weeks of receiving the reply, communicating its decision within a further week.

The petition was disposed of accordingly.