Mandate of Personal Hearing Under Section 75(4) Cannot Be Sidestepped by Selecting “No” on GST Portal

Background and Context

The Gujarat High Court in Gurukrupa Tradelink Private Limited Vs State of Gujarat & Anr. (Gujarat High Court) has reiterated that the statutory requirement of granting personal hearings under Section 75(4) of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 cannot be diluted or bypassed merely because the assessee has opted for “No” in the personal hearing column while filing a reply in Form GST DRC-06.

The Court set aside the assessment order passed against Gurukrupa Tradelink Private Limited on the ground that the adjudicating authority failed to provide the minimum number of personal hearing opportunities as required by Section 75(4). The matter was remanded for fresh consideration within a time-bound framework.

This decision once again underscores that statutory safeguards for fair hearing cannot be overridden by procedural choices or online selections made by an assessee on the GST portal.

Brief Facts of the Case

Initiation of Proceedings

  • A show-cause notice in Form GST DRC-01 was issued on 16.10.2023 to the assessee.
  • The notice specifically fixed 06.11.2023 at 11 a.m. as the date and time for personal hearing.

Assessee’s Reply

  • The assessee submitted its reply in Form GST DRC-06 dated 21.10.2023.
  • While filing this reply, the assessee selected the option “No” against the column asking whether personal hearing was sought.

Conduct of the Adjudicating Authority

  • Despite the assessee having selected “No” for personal hearing in the DRC-06 reply, the authority nevertheless fixed one date of personal hearing on 06.11.2023.
  • The assessee did not attend the hearing on that date.
  • Without granting any further opportunity, the authority proceeded to pass the impugned order adverse to the assessee.

Proceedings Before the High Court

  • During the earlier hearing on 13.03.2026, the Court recorded that the State had produced the proceedings documents and it initially appeared that opportunities of hearing had been granted but not availed by the assessee.
  • The Court even noted that an incorrect statement seemed to have been made in the writ petition and observed that the petition could be dismissed with exemplary costs.
  • However, the Court deferred final decision and directed that copies of the relevant documents (including the Rojnama/order sheet) be supplied to the assessee’s counsel for instructions, and adjourned the matter to 18.03.2026.

On a closer examination of the Rojnama and records subsequently, the Court found that only one date of personal hearing had in fact been granted.

The central issue before the Gujarat High Court was:

Whether the selection of “No” for personal hearing by the assessee in Form GST DRC-06 allows the adjudicating authority to ignore the statutory mandate under Section 75(4) of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, which requires that at least three opportunities of personal hearing be granted before passing an order adverse to the assessee.

Stand of the State

The learned Assistant Government Pleader, Ms. Pooja Ashar, made the following key submissions and admissions: