A show-cause notice issued under an omitted rule without a saving clause is non-est.

The petitioner challenged a show-cause notice dated 2 December 2025, issued under Rule 89(4B) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, and also sought a declaration that the Rule was unconstitutional.

It contended that Rule 89(4B) had been omitted by notification dated 8 October 2024, without a saving clause, and therefore could not support the notice.

The Union submitted that the process leading to the notice had been initiated and completed before the Rule’s omission, but did not establish that the Rule remained in force when the notice was issued.

Whether the show-cause notice dated 2 December 2025 could be issued under Rule 89(4B) after that Rule had been omitted without a saving clause.

Whether the notice should be quashed as having been issued without statutory authority.

The Court applied the principle stated in Kolhapur Canesugar Works Ltd. v. Union of India, 2000 (2) SCC 536, and relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in M/s Goodluck India Limited and another v. Union of India and others, SLP (C) No. 24550 of 2025.

Where a rule is omitted without a saving provision or other legal mechanism preserving proceedings under it, proceedings cannot be continued under the omitted rule; Section 6 of the General Clauses Act does not apply to the omission of a rule in the circumstances discussed in Kolhapur Canesugar.

Rule 89(4B) had been omitted by notification dated 8 October 2024 without a saving clause.

The show-cause notice was issued on 2 December 2025, after Rule 89(4B) had been omitted.

The respondents’ assertion that the underlying process had begun earlier did not supply statutory authority for issuing the notice after the omission, particularly in the absence of a saving clause.

Applying the principle in Goodluck India and Kolhapur Canesugar, the Court held that the notice lacked statutory backing and was non-est.

The Court did not separately determine the petitioner’s constitutional challenge to Rule 89(4B).

Pending miscellaneous applications were disposed of, with no order as to costs.