New Delhi, July 15 -- The Madras High Court has ruled that GST officers need not conclusively establish fraud before issuing a notice under Section 74 of the CGST Act. The judgment clarifies the legal threshold for invoking fraud proceedings under the GST law.

The Madras High Court has clarified that GST authorities are not required to conclusively establish fraud before issuing a show cause notice under Section 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017.

In M/s Fastenex Private Limited vs State Tax Officer & batch matters, Justice C. Saravanan held that a proper officer can issue a notice under Section 74 if the material available on record is sufficient to form a prima facie opinion that tax has not been paid, has been ...