The Division Bench found the appellant's plea of not having seen the show cause notice to be a self-serving assertion contradicted by their own portal activity during the relevant period.

The Kerala High Court has dismissed a writ appeal filed by Satwa Solutions challenging an assessment order passed without its participation, holding that a taxpayer who was actively using the GST portal to avail input tax credit during the relevant period cannot later claim to have been unaware of a show cause notice uploaded on the same portal [Satwa Solutions v. State Tax Officer, Ernakulam and Others].

The appellant contended that it had not seen the show cause notice (Ext.P2) or the final assessment order (Ext.P3) uploaded on the portal and became aware of the proceedings only when recovery action was initiated. It further argued that the notice was defective as it contained only an electronic summary and not full details, relying on the decision of the Supreme Court in M/s Tata Steel Limited v. Union of India [2026 (8) TMI 1587] to contend that a statutory notice must be issued in the prescribed manner.

Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Basant Balaji, while not quarrelling with the legal proposition that notices must conform to statutory requirements, found the factual matrix decisively against the appellant. The Senior Government Pleader pointed out that the appellant had in fact availed input tax credit during the relevant period, which established that it was actively monitoring the portal — directly contradicting its claim of non-awareness. The Court observed that the controversy was pirouetted on a factual assertion that remained uncorroborated and self-serving, and which no Court could accept.

The Division Bench further held that if the appellant had genuinely found the notice defective, the proper course was to raise that objection at the earliest opportunity rather than remaining silent and inviting a final order. By choosing not to respond and later seeking writ jurisdiction, the appellant had effectively waived its right to challenge the proceedings at this stage. The appeal was dismissed, though the Court clarified that other legally available remedies would not stand precluded.

2026-juristway.com-2823-HC(Kerala)-GST  |  High Court of Kerala  |  WA No. 1886 of 2026  |  26.09.2026