Gujarat High Court Holds GST Order Against Pacific Cyber Technology Invalid For Overlooking Reply

The Gujarat High Court on 5 February set aside a GST detention and demand order passed against Pacific Cyber Technology Pvt. Ltd., observing that the adjudicating authority failed to consider the explanation submitted by the company regarding delay in movement of goods due to a technical fault in the vehicle.

A Division Bench comprising Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi held:

“It appears that the appellate authority has not even remotely adverted to the explanation tendered by the petitioner and has proceeded to pass the impugned order without considering the same.”

The petitioner had explained that the E-way bills were generated on 31 May 2025, but the vehicle could not move on the scheduled date due to a technical fault and therefore started its journey only on 2 June 2025.

The State authorities contended that the petitioner had sufficient time to extend the validity of the E-way bill or generate a new one, and therefore there was a violation of Rule 138 of the GST Rules, 2017. However, the Court noted that the adjudicating authority had not considered the explanation at all before passing the demand order.

Holding that the impugned order suffered from non-consideration of the petitioner's explanation, the Court directed that a fresh speaking order be passed within twelve weeks after considering the reply and affording an opportunity of hearing.

Accordingly, the Court remanded the matter to the concerned authority.

Appearance for the Petitioner: MR PRAKASH SHAH SENIOR ADVOCATE with MR DHAVAL SHAH

Appearance for the Respondent: MS NIMISHA PAREKH ASSISTANT GOVERNMENT PLEADER