GST update on Sec 70 of CGST Act, 2017 regarding issuance of summon

Last updated: 01 May 2020

Save Share

Quick Summary

This article discusses the issuance of summons under Section 70 of the CGST Act, 2017, focusing on whether an assessee's lawyer can be present during questioning. While some court decisions have allowed lawyers to be present at a visible but not audible distance, recent rulings, including one by the Gujarat High Court, have denied this permission. The reasoning is that GST officers are not police officers and therefore not empowered to assault, making the presence of a lawyer to prevent mishandling unnecessary.

Court :

Brief :
We hereby discuss one of the important aspect of any investigation, i.e., issuing summon to persons concerned with the investigation so as to take their statements and produce the documents which would form important evidence for the entire proceedings. Before proceeding further, it is important to understand the meaning of the term “summon”. The term “summon” in normal parlance means order someone to be present. Consequently, in case of investigation proceedings, the proper concerned officer issues letter to the concerned person to present before him for tendering statements which are subsequently used as evidence in conclusion of proceedings.

Citation :

Daily Limit Reached