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Unsigned Notices and Orders Under GST Act Invalid: Gauhati High Court

 

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has ruled that a Show Cause Notice (SCN) issued under Section 73 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, along with the accompanying Statement and any order passed under Section 73(9), must be mandatorily signed by the Proper Officer. Failure to comply with this statutory mandate renders these documents invalid and ineffective.

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Justice Soumitra Saikia, presiding over the matter, highlighted that the law grants authority solely to the Proper Officer to issue SCNs, Statements, and Orders. Authentication by the Proper Officer is, therefore, an essential requirement, and any deviation renders the documents redundant.

The judgment arose from a petition filed by an assessee who challenged the validity of proceedings initiated against him. The petitioner argued that he was not issued a proper SCN but only received a Summary of the SCN in Form DRC-01. Subsequently, an order against him was issued in Form DRC-07, along with an attachment detailing the tax determination. However, neither the attachments nor the documents bore the signature of the Proper Officer.

Citing Rule 26 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, the petitioner contended that SCNs must be authenticated using a digital signature, e-signature, or other modes of verification notified under the Information Technology Act, 2000. The petitioner relied on precedent cases, where unsigned documents were deemed void.

The Department admitted that no SCN was issued apart from the summary and acknowledged that the attachments lacked signatures. It argued, however, that the summary documents uploaded to the GST portal were digitally signed, as required for portal operation.

The High Court held that issuing only a summary without a formal SCN does not constitute valid initiation of proceedings under Section 73. Additionally, it reiterated that all documents, including the Statement and the Order, must comply with the authentication requirements of Rule 26(3).

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