Service Tax Show Cause Notice Quashed After 15-Year Delay in Adjudication with No Justifiable Reason

The HC quashed a show cause notice (SCN) dated September 26, 2008, and the subsequent order in original dated February 28, 2019, due to inordinate delay in adjudication. The Court found no justification for the fifteen-year delay in adjudicating the SCN, particularly noting that despite dismissal of a stay application, the Adjudicating Authority failed to proceed expeditiously. Applying precedent from VOS Technologies, the HC emphasized that statutory authorities must establish they were genuinely hindered from resolving disputes with reasonable speed, and must prove either impracticability or factors beyond their control that prevented timely adjudication. The petition was allowed. .....

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