Rs 4 Cr GST Notice To Auto-Rickshaw Driver: Orissa HC Seeks Reply From GST Commissioner

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Thursday directed the GST (Goods and Services Tax) Commissioner to reply to the notice served on an auto-rickshaw driver of Rourkela in which he was asked to pay GST to the tune of Rs 4 crore.

Hearing a writ petition filed by Rajendra Palei of Rourkela, a division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Biswajit Mohanty, directed the GST Commissioner to furnish a reply within four weeks.

Expressing displeasure over the notice, the bench wanted to know as to how the GST department has been sending such notice to people without any verification.

The petitioner had informed the court that the GST department had sent a notice in his name to pay Rs 4 crore tax. But, as he did not reply to the notice, the department sent another notice asking him to pay the tax with the penalty.

In his argument, Palei’s counsel Ashish Mishra told the court while his client has no other income source, some fraud companies have opened fake accounts in his name in different banks and stated that he owns a farmhouse.

Stating that such things are being done in the knowledge of the GST officials, he prayed the court to direct the GST Department to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to his client for inflicting mental torture by serving such notice.

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