Tvl.White Lotus v. The State Tax Officer
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 10.12.2025 CORAM :
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.SARAVANAN and W.M.P.Nos.54016 and 54018 of 2025 Tvl.White Lotus, Rep.by its Proprietor - V.Alaguramu, No.11, Sai Kuberan Nagar, Rathinamangalam, Vandalur, Chengalpattu-600 127.
GSTIN:33BPWPA1153G1Z4 ... Petitioner Vs.
The State Tax Officer, Office of the Commercial Tax Officer, Poonamallee Assessment Circle, Station:4/109, Third Floor, Bangalore Chennai Highway, Varadarajapuram, Nazarathpet, Chennai-600 123.
... Respondent Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, for issuance of a Writ of Certiorari to call for the records of the impugned proceedings of the respondent in GSTIN:33BPWPA1153G1Z4/2019-20 dated 06.08.2024 and the consequential Summary Order of the impugned proveedings vide Form GST DRC-07 in Reference No.ZD330824041591I dated 06.08.2024 for the Tax Period April 2019 - March 2020 quash the same.
For Petitioner : Mr.S.Rajasekar For Respondent : Ms.Vasanthamala Government Advocate 1/7
ORDER
Ms.Vasanthamala, learned Government Advocate takes notice for the Respondent.
2. This Writ Petition is being disposed of at the stage of admission itself with the consent of the learned counsel for the Petitioner and the learned Government Advocate for the Respondent.
3. In this Writ Petition, the Petitioner is before this Court against the impugned Order dated 06.08.2024 in DRC-07 passed for the tax period 20192020 which preceded a Show Cause Notice in GST DRC-01 dated 21.05.2024, to which the petitioner filed a reply in Form GST DRC-06 on 01.07.2024.
4. By the impugned Order, the following demand has been confirmed against the petitioner which reads as under:- Sr.No Tax Rate (%) Turnover Tax Period Act POS(Pla ce of Supply) Tax Interest Penalty Fee Others Total From To 0.00 APR MAR CGST NA 4,24,634.00 3,54,310.00 42,463.00 0.00 0.00 8,21,407.00 0.00 APR MAR SGST NA 4,24,634.00 3,54,310.00 42,463.00 0.00 0.00 8,21,407.00 Total 8,49,268.00 7,08,620.00 84,926.00 0.00 0.00 16,42,814.00 2/7
5. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that although the petitioner had replied to the Show Cause Notice that preceded the impugned order dated 21.05.2024 vide reply dated 01.07.2024, the reply was incomplete and submits that therefore the demand has been confirmed against the petitioner.
6. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that as against the demand confirmed by the impugned order, the tax liability is confirmed for a sum of Rs.8,49,268/- as detailed below:- Sl.No.
Issue SGST CGST IGST CESS Total Total tax due in Under declaration of output tax) + (Excess claim of ITC) above 424634 424634 849268 Interest 354310 354310 708620 Penalty on amount in S.No.1 42463 42463 84926 Total(1+2+3) 821407 821407 1642814
7. The learned counsel for the petitioner further submits that a sum of Rs.8,00,735/- has been recovered/paid from the petitioner's electronic credit ledger for the period from 01.04.2025 to 03.12.2025.
8. The learned counsel for the respondent on the other hand however is unable to confirm the same.
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9. Be that as it may, reading of the said reply of the petitioner to the Show Cause Notice indicates that it is a skeletal reply and has not explained the defense clearly.
10. Under similar circumstances, Orders have been quashed and cases have been remitted back to pass a fresh order on terms subject to such Assessee depositing 10% to 100% of the disputed tax depending upon the length of delay in approaching the Court. I do not find any reason to take a different view in this case.
11. Therefore, to balance the interest of both parties viz., the Assessee and the Revenue, the case is remitted back to the Respondent to pass a fresh order on merits subject to the Petitioner depositing 50% of the disputed tax in cash from the Petitioner's Electronic Cash Register within a period of thirty
(30) days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
12. However, in case the aforesaid amount of Rs.8,00,735/- was recovered from the petitioner's electronic credit ledger from the period between 01.04.2025 to 03.12.2025 on 18.09.2025 and 13.11.2025 against the tax liability confirmed by the impugned order, no further amount will be required to be pre-deposited by the petitioner for de novo proceedings and the 4/7
petitioner may suitably send a separate communication explaining the same.
13. Within such time, the Petitioner shall also file a reply to the Show Cause Notice in GST DRC-01 dated 21.05.2024 together with requisite documents to substantiate the case by treating the impugned Order dated 06.08.2024 as an addendum to the Show Cause Notice dated 21.05.2024.
14. In case the Petitioner complies with the above stipulations, the Respondent shall proceed to pass a final order on merits and in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible, preferably, within a period of three (3) months of such reply/pre-deposit. Subject to the Petitioner complying with the above stipulations, the attachment of the bank account of the Petitioner shall also stand automatically vacated.
15. It is made clear that bank attachment shall be lifted subject to the deposit of 50% of the disputed tax as ordered above and no other amount is in arrears barring the amount demanded under the impugned Order.
16. In case the Petitioner fails to comply with any of the stipulations, the Respondent is at liberty to proceed against the Petitioner to recover the tax in accordance with law as if this Writ Petition was dismissed in limine today.
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17. Needless to state, before passing any such order, the Respondent shall give due notice to the Petitioner.
18. This Writ Petition stands disposed of with these above observations. No costs. Connected Writ Miscellaneous Petitions are closed. 10.12.2025 ssn To:
The State Tax Officer, Office of the Commercial Tax Officer, Poonamallee Assessment Circle, Station:4/109, Third Floor, Bangalore Chennai Highway, Varadarajapuram, Nazarathpet, Chennai-600 123.
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C.SARAVANAN, J., ssn and W.M.P.Nos.54016 and 54018 of 2025 10.12.2025 7/7