Section 73 of the CGST Act, 2017—Show Cause Notice - The petitioner submitted that upon scrutiny of the petitioner’s return for the period April 2018 to March 2019 certain discrepancies / mismatch were noticed in Form GST ASMT-10 dated 11.02.2021. The Petitioner furnished a reply in Form GST ASMT-11 on 16.03.2021. However, an intimation of tax payable under Section 73(5)/74(5) of the Act, 2017 was issued in Form GST DRC-01A dated 03.04.2021. Further, no show-cause notice under Section 73(1) was issued after the intimation under DRC-01A. However, the adjudicating authority has proceeded to levy tax, interest and penalty by passing an Adjudication order on 1st November 2021 and directed for issuance of summary of show-cause notice under DRC-07. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the adjudication order is vitiated due to non-compliance of the principles of natural justice and failure to follow the procedure prescribed under Section 73 of the Act. The counsel for the respondents-State sought short time to file a counter affidavit.

Held that:- The Hon’ble High Court listed the matter on 22nd March 2022. Counter affidavit be filed by 21st March 2022. In the meantime, no coercive steps be taken against the petitioner.