[Cites 1, Cited by 0]
Madras High Court
M/S.Sri Iyyanar Traders vs The State Tax Officer on 23 February, 2026
Author: Krishnan Ramasamy
Bench: Krishnan Ramasamy
WP(MD). No.4834 of 2026
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
Dated : 23.02.2026
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KRISHNAN RAMASAMY
WP(MD). No.4834 of 2026
and W.M.P.(MD)No.4048 of 2026
M/s.Sri Iyyanar Traders,
Represented by its Proprietor M.Ponmurugan,
Gstin 33DXYPP3158J1ZP,
14/3, Ward-32, Pattalamman Koil Street,
Bodinayakanur,
Theni District. ... Petitioner
Vs
The State Tax Officer,
Bodinayakanur Assessment Circle,
Commercial Tax Building,
Bodinayakanur.. ... Respondent
PRAYER :-
Writ Petition, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,
praying this court to issue a WRIT OF CERTIORARI calling for the
records in the impugned Order in,ARN/ Case Id AD3301 23007374P/
2020-21 dated 04.02.2025 issued by the Respondent and quash the same
as it is without jurisdiction and clear violation of statutory provisions.
1/8
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WP(MD). No.4834 of 2026
For Petitioner : Mr.S Karunakar,
For Respondent : Mr.R.Sureshkumar,,
Addl. Govt. Pleader
ORDER
This writ petition has been filed challenging the impugned
orders dated 04.02.2025 passed by the respondent.
2. Mr.R.Suresh Kumar, learned Additional Government
Pleader, 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.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that
in this case, all notices/communications were uploaded by the respondent
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 order came to be passed by the respondent
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without providing any opportunity of personal hearing to the petitioner.
Therefore, this petition has been filed.
4. Further, he would submit that the petitioner the petitioner
has already paid 100% tax. Hence, he requests this Court to grant an
opportunity to the petitioner to present their case before the respondent
by setting aside the impugned order.
5. On the other hand, the learned Government Advocate
appearing for the respondent 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.
6. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and and the
learned Additional Government pleaderfor the respondent and also
perused the materials available on record.
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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 order 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,
inspite of the fact that no response from the petitioner to the show cause
notices etc., the Officer 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 fulfilling the empty formalities. Merely 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
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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 is a lack of opportunities being
provided to serve the notices/orders etc., effectively to the petitioner.
10. In such view of the matter, this Court is inclined to set
aside the impugned order dated 04.02.2025 passed by the respondent.
Accordingly, this Court passes the following order:-
(i) The impugned order dated 04.02.2025 is set
aside and the matter is remanded to the respondent for
fresh consideration.
(ii) The petitioner shall file their reply/objection
along with the required documents, if any, within a
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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, this writ petition is disposed
of. No costs. Consequently, the connected miscellaneous petition is also
closed.
23.02.2026
Index : Yes/No
NCC : Yes/No
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TO
The State Tax Officer,
Bodinayakanur Assessment Circle,
Commercial Tax Building,
Bodinayakanur..
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KRISHNAN RAMASAMY, J.
vsm
Date : 23.02.2026
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