The Karnataka High Court has quashed an order under Section 73(9) of the KGST Act and directed re-assignment of the adjudication to a different proper officer, holding that where the audit under Section 65 and the subsequent adjudication under Section 73 are both conducted by the same officer, the adjudication is vitiated. The ruling by Justice C.M. Poonacha in WP No. 107171 of 2026 (M/s Sali Basavaraj, decided 29.08.2026) follows the Co-ordinate Bench decisions in M/s Presidency Builders and Developers (WP No. 28539/2025) and M/s Rajapur Minerals (WP No. 100290/2026).
The petitioner had been subjected to an audit culminating in an Audit Report in Form GST ADT-01 dated 16.10.2025, followed by an adjudication order under Section 73(9) dated 30.03.2026, both issued by the same officer — the Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Audit)-2, Davangere. The court found that this was an admitted position and, in terms of the settled Co-ordinate Bench decisions, the relief had to be granted. The matter was remitted to the Joint Commissioner (Admin) to assign it to a proper officer other than the audit officer, with liberty to the petitioner to file a further reply to the SCN and with directions for adequate opportunity of hearing.
- 2026-juristway.com-2483-HC(Karnataka)-GST | High Court of Karnataka | WP No. 107171 of 2026 | 29.08.2026