Telangana High Court Disposes Plea After State Assures Missing GST Documents Won't Be Relied Upon in Adjudication

The Telangana High Court has disposed of a writ petition filed by Bengal Cold Rollers Pvt. Ltd., recording the State's statement that seized documents whose originals are missing will not be relied upon in adjudication, while permitting proceedings to continue on the basis of available material.

A Bench of Chief Justice Apresh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin observed that once the State clarified that such missing documents would not be relied upon, the grievance of the petitioner stood addressed and adjudication could proceed in accordance with law.

The petition arose from adjudication proceedings pursuant to show cause notices for the tax periods 2019–20 to 2023–24. Bengal Cold Rollers Pvt. Ltd. contended that certain seized “office files” forming part of the panchnama were not furnished, thereby denying it a fair opportunity to submit an effective response.

The company argued that in the absence of these documents, any reliance placed by the department on such materials would render the adjudication unfair.

The State, however, submitted that while some original files were missing, scanned copies had already been provided earlier and, importantly, such missing original documents would not be relied upon in the adjudication proceedings.

Recording this submission, the Court held that the grievance raised by the petitioner stood resolved.

The court observed, “ Those missing files, originals of which are not available with the department, will not be relied upon in the adjudication proceedings for the relevant years, whereas they would be relying upon the remaining file Nos.1 to 24, which were handed over to the petitioner before W.P.No.35740 of 2025 was disposed of on 12.12.2025..”

It further clarified, “The adjudication proceedings can go on on the basis of other available materials with the department, of course with due opportunity to the petitioner to furnish its reply and compliance of the opportunity of hearing in terms of the relevant provisions of the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.”

In view of the State's assurance, the court disposed of the writ petition, allowing adjudication to proceed on the basis of available material while ensuring due opportunity of hearing to the petitioner.

For Petitioner: Advocate Pramod Singh

For Respondents: Swaroop Oorilla, Special Government Pleader for State Tax