GST Appeal Filed Online Is Within Time, Karnataka High Court Condones Delay In Physical Filing

The Karnataka High Court has condoned delay in the physical filing of the appeal as the appeal was filed via online mode within time.

The bench of Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav observed that Rule 108(3) was amended to the extent that the date of appeal would be the date of issuance of acknowledgment, which was on June 3, 2022, and the change is in contradistinction to the earlier requirement, which provided that the date of appeal would be the date of furnishing a certified copy of the order if submitted after seven days. If that were to be so, the date of physical filing of the certified copy ought not to have been taken note of.

The bench noted that though an appeal was filed prior to the substitution of Rule 108(3), in the present case, the matter having been decided after the amendment by way of substitution, the amended Rule, wherein Rule 108(3) ought to be taken note of, It must be noticed that the substitution of sub-rule (3) ought to date back to the date when the rule was introduced.

The petitioner/assessee challenged the order by which the appeal filed under Section 107(11) of the KGST/CGST Act, 2017 was dismissed on the ground that the appeal was filed beyond time and the delay was such that it would be beyond the time that was condonable under Section 107(4) of the Act.

The refund order of the petitioner came to be rejected, which order was served on the petitioner on March 3, 2022. The appeal was filed through the online mode, i.e., the GST common portal, on June 3, 2022, which is evident from the Form GST-APL-01.

The appeal is required to be filed under Section 107 read with Rule 108 of the CGST Rules, 2017 within a period of three months from the date on which the decision or order was communicated.

The only reason for rejecting the appeal was the date of physical re-filing of the appeal on January 25, 2023. The appeal was filed in online mode on June 3, 2022, though the physical filing of the order impugned was made on January 25, 2023. Under Rule 108(3) of the CGST Rules, 2017, prior to its substitution, it was provided that the date of filing of the appeal would be the date when the certified copy of the decision or order is submitted, where such an order was submitted after seven days from the date of filing Form GST APL-01.

The court quashed the order and noted that the date of filing that was to be taken note of is 03.06.2022, which is the date of acknowledgement of filing of the appeal, and not 25.01.2023, which was the date of physical filing of the order, which was wrongly taken by the Appellate Authority. As the delay requires to be condoned and there is no ambiguity in the position of law, the delay is condoned and the matter is remitted for consideration afresh.

Counsel For Petitioner: Syed M. Peeran

Counsel For Respondent: Shamanth Naik

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Kar) 299

Case Title: M/S Hitachi Energy India Limited Versus State Of Karnataka

Case No.: Writ Petition No. 14881 Of 2024 (T-Res)

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