Hindustan Construction Company Limited vs Union of India
Date: March 11, 2024
Subject Matter
Service of a pre-show cause notice in form ASMT-10 is mandatory before issuing DRC-01 notice
Summary
The case involves Hindustan Construction Company Limited vs Union of India, where the Himachal Pradesh High Court issued notice and granted a stay of recovery proceedings. The court acknowledged the mandatory nature of ASMT 10 under Rule 99 of the CGST Rules and referred to a previous order by the Gauhati High Court in PepsiCo’s case. The petitioner undertakes work contracts for State Government projects and is registered under GST. Scrutiny proceedings were initiated under Section 61 of the CGST Act, 2017, and ASMT 10 notice was issued pointing out certain discrepancies. The court found that there was non-compliance with Rule 99 of the CGST Rules, which requires the service of a pre-show cause notice in form ASMT-10 before issuing DRC-01 notice, and hence granted an interim stay of all further proceedings.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT
Notice. Mr. Balram Sharma, learned Deputy Solicitor General of India and Mr. Sushant Kaprate, learned Additional Advocate General accept notice on behalf of respondent no.1 and respondents no. 2 to 4, respectively.
2) Heard Sh.Bharat Raichandani, Advocate for the petitioner and Mr. Sushant Kaprate, learned Additional Advocate General, for respondents No.2 to 4.
3) It is the contention of the counsel for the petitioner that the impugned order (Annexure P-3) has been passed with regard to an issue, in respect of which, no ASMT-10 notice was issued to the petitioner, and that the ASMT-10 issued to the petitioner dealt with other aspects other than the ground on which the impugned order is passed. This is not disputed by the learned counsel for the respondents.
4) Similar issue appears to have been considered by the Gauhati High Court in M/s. Pepsico India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. vs. Union of India and others, WP(C)/6960/2023 dt.13.12.2023 as also by this Court vide order dt.11.03.2024 in CWP No. 1793 of 2024.
5) Prima facie there appears to be non-compliance with Rule 99 of the CGST Rules, which requires service of a pre show cause notice in form ASMT-10 before issuing DRC-01 notice. Therefore, there shall be interim stay of all further proceedings pursuant to Annexure P-9 (Recovery Notice), until further orders.
6) List on 05.2024.