In a significant judgment reinforcing the responsibility of taxpayers in the GST regime, the Delhi High Court ruled that the Department cannot be blamed if a taxpayer fails to respond to a show cause notice that is duly uploaded on the GST portal. The ruling came in the matter of Sandeep Garg v. Sales Tax Officer Class II, AVATO Ward 66, Zone 4 Delhi [W.P.(C) 5846/2025].
The division bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Rajneesh Kumar Gupta emphasized the importance of vigilance by assessees in monitoring communications on the GST portal.
“Since the Petitioner has not been diligent in checking the portal, no reply to the Show Cause Notice has been filed by the Petitioner. Thus the department cannot be blamed,” the Court stated.
The petitioner, Sandeep Garg—Proprietor of M/s Aares Spring Industries, engaged in the trading and manufacturing of plastic components—challenged the impugned demand order dated April 16, 2024, contending that it was passed without affording him an opportunity to be heard. He argued that the Show Cause Notice dated December 26, 2023, was never properly served as it was uploaded under the ‘additional notices and orders’ tab, rather than the standard ‘notices and orders’ tab.
The Department, represented by Panel Counsel Ms. Vaishali Gupta, countered that a reminder notice dated February 9, 2024, was also issued and clearly visible on the portal. Furthermore, she informed the Court that automated emails and SMS alerts are sent whenever such documents are uploaded.
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“Automated e-mails and SMSs are also sent whenever anything is uploaded on the portal,” the Respondent’s counsel informed.
In response, the Petitioner’s counsel claimed that the accountant responsible for portal access could not log in at the relevant time due to portal issues, which caused the delay in filing a reply.
The Court noted that despite the reminder notice being clearly visible on February 9, 2024, the Petitioner did not respond. It observed that the total demand raised was ₹9,21,326, with a tax component of ₹4,52,956.
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However, keeping in mind the overall circumstances, the Court allowed the Petitioner the opportunity to appeal the demand:
“The Petitioner is permitted to file an appeal against the impugned order before the Appellate Authority under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017,” the Court directed.
The Court clarified that if the appeal is filed within 30 days along with the pre-deposit of the tax amount, it should be heard on merits and not dismissed on limitation grounds.
Accordingly, the writ petition was disposed of with liberty to the Petitioner to approach the Appellate Authority.
Case title: Sandeep Garg v. Sales Tax Officer Class Ii Avato Ward 66 Zone 4 Delhi
Case no.: W.P.(C) 5846/2025
