Facts of the Case

The petitioners, Chaudharee Nafees Ahmad and another, challenged an order dated 09.10.2024 passed under Section 74 of the CGST/UPGST Act as well as the subsequent appellate order dated 28.07.2025 dismissing their appeal as beyond limitation. Their case was that the notices issued under Section 73/74 of the Act were uploaded only on the 'Additional Notices and Orders' tab of the GST portal, leaving them unaware of the notice and the resultant order until it was too late to appeal within limitation. They also separately contended that no opportunity of personal hearing was granted.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether a Section 74 demand order, and the appellate dismissal on limitation, should be set aside where the preceding notice was uploaded only on the 'Additional Notices and Orders' tab of the GST portal.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The notices were uploaded only on the 'Additional Notices and Orders' tab, evident from the record, so the petitioners could neither appear nor challenge the order within limitation.
  • No opportunity of hearing was granted while passing the order, and this precise issue was dealt with by the Division Bench in Ola Fleet Technologies Private Ltd. v. State of U.P. (Writ Tax No.855 of 2024).

Respondent's Arguments

  • The Department did not dispute the contention regarding uploading on the 'Additional Notices and Orders' tab instead of the 'Due Notices and Orders' tab, and accepted that the issue was covered by Ola Fleet Technologies.

Court Order / Findings

  • Extracting the Ola Fleet Technologies ruling at length, the Court reiterated that a taxpayer is entitled to the benefit of doubt where the order does not reflect under the primary 'view notices and orders' tab, since there is no material to reject such a contention and the taxpayer cannot be expected to routinely check a secondary, non-obvious tab.
  • Since the dictum in Ola Fleet Technologies applied squarely to the present facts, the impugned orders dated 09.10.2024 and 28.07.2025 were quashed and set aside.
  • The matter was remanded to the assessing authority to pass a fresh order after giving the petitioners an opportunity of hearing.

Important Clarification

  • Where notices under Section 73 or 74 are uploaded only on the 'Additional Notices and Orders' tab rather than the primary notices tab, both the demand order and any consequential appellate dismissal on limitation are liable to be set aside, and proceedings restored to the SCN stage – a position now consistently applied across a large number of Allahabad High Court decisions.

Sections Involved

  • Section 74, CGST/UPGST Act, 2017 – determination of tax involving fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts.
  • Section 107, CGST Act, 2017 – appeal to Appellate Authority, whose limitation computation was affected by the defective service.

Decision – In Favour of

Disposed of in favour of the Assessee; both the demand order and the appellate dismissal were quashed, and the matter remanded for a fresh order after hearing.

Case Details

High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench; Writ Tax No. 1167 of 2025; Coram: Hon'ble Jaspreet Singh, J.; Order dated 17.10.2025.

Link to Download the Order

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