SCN Reply Inadequate and Hearing Skipped: Madras HC dismisses Petition granting Liberty to file...

The Madras High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by a taxpayer but has granted them the liberty to file a statutory appeal. The case involved a situation where the taxpayer's reply to a show-cause notice was found to be inadequate, and they had also skipped the personal hearing offered to them. Consequently, the tax officer had passed an adverse order. The taxpayer then challenged this order directly in the High Court through a writ petition. The High Court, noting the taxpayer's failure to utilize the opportunities given to them, declined to interfere in the matter. However, it preserved the taxpayer's right to pursue the alternative remedy available under the law, which is to file an appeal before the GST appellate authority, provided they do so within the prescribed time limit.