K.U. Niyas VS Assistant Commissioner

The petitioner has come before this Court challenging the Ext.P2 series of demand and recovery notices issued under the GST Act. These demand notices were sent to the petitioner following assessment orders that had been issued on November 25, 2019, and November 27, 2019, for the assessment periods spanning from April 2018 to May 2018 and from May 2018 to May 2019. The petitioner contends that he did not receive the assessment orders, but upon receiving the demand notices, he promptly took action by filing the returns for the respective periods within thirty days of receiving the notices. This timely filing was intended to enable him to benefit from the withdrawal of the assessment orders as provided under Section 62 of the GST Act.

The petitioner has approached this Court challenging a series of demand and recovery notices issued to him under the GST Act. These notices, which are part of Ext.P2 series, were issued following assessment orders dated November 25, 2019, and November 27, 2019, for the assessment periods from April 2018 to May 2018 and up to May 2019. The petitioner argues that he did not receive the assessment orders, but upon receiving the demand notices, he promptly filed the necessary returns within thirty days to avail of the benefit of withdrawal of the assessment orders as provided under Section 62 of the GST Act. According to the respondents’ statement, the assessment orders were uploaded to the department’s web portal on the same dates as they were issued, i.e., November 25, 2019, and November 27, 2019. Under Section 62 of the GST Act, the assessee is allowed to file returns for the relevant period within thirty days of receiving the assessment orders, which were issued on a best judgment basis by the assessing authority, to have these orders withdrawn. In this case, although the assessment orders were available on the web portal as of November 25 and 27, 2019, the petitioner had not filed his returns within the prescribed timeframe.

The petitioner has challenged a series of demand and recovery notices issued under the GST Act, which were based on assessment orders dated 25.11.2019 and 27.11.2019, covering the assessment periods from April 2018 to May 2018 and from May 2018 to May 2019. The petitioner contends that the assessment orders were not served directly to him, but he acted promptly upon receiving the demand notices by filing the necessary returns within thirty days. This was done to avail himself of the benefit of withdrawal of the assessment orders as per Section 62 of the GST Act.

According to the respondents, however, the assessment orders were uploaded to the department’s web portal on the same dates they were issued. Section 62 of the GST Act allows an assessee to file returns within 30 days from receiving assessment orders to have them withdrawn, but in this case, the petitioner did not file the returns within 30 days from the upload dates. Instead, the returns were filed within 30 days from the receipt of the demand notices.

The court noted that under Section 169(c) and (d) of the GST Act, communications sent to the e-mail address provided by an assessee at registration or made available on the department’s common portal are deemed effective communication. Therefore, the petitioner was deemed to have received the assessment orders on the upload dates, and since the returns were filed late, he was not entitled to the benefit of withdrawal of the assessment orders. Consequently, the court dismissed the writ petition challenging the assessment orders and demand notices.

Additionally, the court acknowledged the petitioner’s request for time to file appeals against the orders.

The petitioner challenged the Ext.P2 series of demand and recovery notices issued under the GST Act, which followed assessment orders dated 25.11.2019 and 27.11.2019 for the periods from April 2018 to May 2019. The petitioner claimed he did not receive the assessment orders but responded to the demand notices by filing returns within 30 days, aiming to benefit from the withdrawal of the assessment orders under Section 62 of the GST Act. The respondents, however, stated that the assessment orders were uploaded to the department’s web portal on the dates they were issued. According to Section 62, the petitioner had the option to file returns within 30 days of the orders to get them withdrawn, but since the petitioner did not do so within that timeframe, he missed the opportunity for withdrawal. The court observed that under Section 169(c) and (d), the assessment orders were deemed effectively communicated via the web portal. Consequently, since the petitioner filed the returns late, the court ruled against the petition challenging the assessment orders and demand notices. However, considering the petitioner’s need for time to appeal, the court stayed the recovery proceedings for six weeks to allow the petitioner to file statutory appeals.

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