Goods and Services Tax – Rectification of Order – Section 161 of CGST Act – Error Apparent on Record – Duplication of Orders.
2025 KER 40345
High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam
Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A.
W.P.(C) No. 9086 of 2025
Facts: The petitioner, a private limited company, challenged Ext.P14 order rejecting rectification of Ext.P8 order due to non-compliance with the six-month statutory period under Section 161 of the GST Act. The petitioner received a show cause notice dated 18.10.2021 for discrepancies in the 2017-2018 assessment, which was resolved in their favor vide Ext.P7 order dated 08.12.2023. However, another show cause notice dated 28.09.2023 for the same discrepancies led to Ext.P8 order dated 30.12.2023, passed against the petitioner. The petitioner sought rectification via email (Ext.P9) on 01.02.2024, within the statutory period, but the request was rejected (Ext.P14) for not being filed through the GST portal.
Held: The High Court quashed Ext.P8 and Ext.P14 orders, holding that the duplication of proceedings for the same discrepancies resulted in an error apparent on the face of the record. The court noted that the petitioner had notified the authority of the error within the statutory period via email, which was admitted in Ext.P14. Under Section 161, the authority could suo motu rectify such errors, and failure to do so was legally unsustainable. The adjudication was concluded by Ext.P7, rendering Ext.P8 invalid.
Disposition: Writ petition allowed; Ext.P8 and Ext.P14 quashed.
