Orders signed by same officer in dual capacity not maintainable.

[CA Bimal Jain]

The Hon’ble Madras High Court in the case of M/s S.R.S. Construction v. The State Tax Officer (Data Analytics) [2024 (7) TMI 1348 - MADRAS HIGH COURT] set aside the orders which have been signed by the same officer in dual capacity, holding that such orders are liable to be set aside.

Facts:

M/s S.R.S. Construction (“the Petitioner”) had challenged the Assessment Orders dated February 23, 2024 (“the Impugned Order”) passed under Section 74 of the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”) for the assessment years 2020-21 and 2021-22 (“the Impugned Period”) Impugned Orders were passed by the same individual in the capacity as State Tax Officer (Data Analytics) (Intelligence Wing), Virudhunagar and Commercial Tax Officer.

Held:

The Hon’ble Madras High Court in the case of [2024 (7) TMI 1348 - MADRAS HIGH COURT] taking into consideration the fact that the Department is not in a position to clarify as why the same officer has signed the respective Impugned Order under two different heads, thereby, the Impugned Orders was set aside the matter was remitted back for reconsideration.