Detention of Goods – Opportunity of Hearing Mandated Before Adjudication
Issue: Whether the detention of goods in transit is valid without providing the assessee an opportunity of hearing.
Facts:
- A show cause notice (GST MOV 07) was issued to the assessee regarding the detention of goods and conveyances in transit.
- The assessee filed a writ petition challenging the notice, claiming that no opportunity of hearing was provided.
Decision:
- The court directed the respondent authority to provide the assessee with an opportunity of hearing before completing the adjudication process.
- The adjudication must be completed within two months from the date of the order.
Key Takeaway:
This case highlights the importance of granting an opportunity of hearing before adjudicating matters related to the detention of goods and conveyances in transit. This ensures that the assessee’s rights are protected and that decisions are made fairly after considering their perspective.
HIGH COURT OF CALCUTTA
AGP Enterprise
v.
State of West Bengal
Rajarshi Bharadwaj, J.
WPA 28851 of 2024
JANUARY 20, 2025
Akash Dutta, Aditya Dutta, A. Ray, Md. T.M. Siddiqui, N. Chatterjee, T. Chakraborty and S. Sanyal for the Petitioner. Kaushik Dey and K. K. Maiti for the Respondent.
ORDER
1. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the petitioner was issued with the showcause notice dated 25th July, 2019 under the Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 by the respondent no.2 but no opportunity of hearing was given to the petitioner since 25th July, 2019.
2. Learned counsel appearing for the respondent authorities on instruction said that no notice of hearing was given to the petitioner after the issuance of showcause notice dated 25th July, 2019.
3. Heard learned counsel for the parties.
4. As it is apparent that the show-cause notice issued in the form of GST MOV 07 dated 25th July, 2019 is pending and no notice of hearing was given by the respondent no.2, this Court directs the respondent no.2 to complete the adjudication after giving opportunity of hearing to the petitioner within two months from date.
5. Let this order be communicated to the respondent no.2, not only by the petitioner but also by the learned counsel appearing for the respondent authorities.
6. With the above observations and directions, the writ petition is disposed of.
7. There shall be no order as to costs.
8. All parties shall act on the basis of the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court.
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