Case Laws Singh Caterers and Vendors vs. Union of India

Facts of the Case:

Revenue:

• The revenue authority, represented by the Respondent, Union of India, opposed the petitioner’s claims. They argued that the audit report had been finalized after giving the petitioner an opportunity to be heard, and there was no need for rectification under Section 161.
• They asserted that the discrepancies mentioned in the rectification application were not errors apparent on the face of the record but rather an attempt by the petitioner to seek a review of the audit report.
• The revenue authority maintained that the SCN issued u/s 73 was valid and that the Assessing Officer had considered the audit report and satisfied himself before initiating proceedings u/s73. They contended that the petitioner’s objections could be raised during the ongoing proceedings before the Assessing Officer.

Petitioner:

• The petitioner, Singh Caterers and Vendors, filed a writ petition challenging the audit report issued under Section 65(6) of the BGST Act, 2017.
• They also raised the issue of non-consideration of their rectification application under Section 161 of the Act.
• The petitioner argued that the show-cause notice issued by the Assessing Officer should not proceed without considering their rectification application, as it had the potential to rectify any errors in the audit report. They contended that the rectification application was a legitimate request for review of the order based on the audit report.

Judgement:

Since assessing officer found no error apparent on face of record for which request of petitioner-assessee to wait for disposal of rectification application should be accepted, therefore, proceedings initiated under Section 73 were declared as valid and writ petition against non-consideration of rectification application was dismissed

Summary:

The case involves Singh Caterers and Vendors (the petitioner), who challenged the audit report issued under Section 65(6) of the BGST Act, 2017, and the non-consideration of their rectification application under Section 161 of the Act. The revenue authority argued that the rectification application did not raise any errors apparent on the face of the record and initiated proceedings under Section 73 based on the final audit report. The court upheld the revenue’s position, stating that the show-cause notice indicated the petitioner’s request to wait for the rectification application’s disposal, but there was no error warranting rectification. The writ petition was dismissed, allowing the proceedings under Section 73 to continue.

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