The Allahabad High Court has held that a taxpayer cannot invoke writ jurisdiction to bypass the statutory limitation period for filing an appeal under the GST Act, declining to entertain a challenge to an assessment order filed after the expiry of the limitation period.
A Division Bench including Justices Shekhar B. Saraf and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary quashed a writ petition of Mishra Security Services, citing that entertaining the petition would weaken the statutory appellate framework. The Judges said-
“In our view, no proper explanation has been provided by the petitioner for non-filing of the appeal within time and/or non-filing of the writ petition within the limitation period and/or any attempt to explain the latches as to why the writ petition has been filed at such a belated stage. Furthermore, writ jurisdiction can certainly not be exercised when invoked to undermine or defeat the application of a statutory regime to render the provision of limitation provided in the statute otiose.”
The applicant contested a GST SCN dated 17 March 2025 and an assessment order dated 4 June 2025, claiming that they had been issued without jurisdiction. The authorities had provided the applicant with a chance of a personal hearing before passing the assessment order. Thus, no breach was discovered regarding principles of natural justice.
The Bench noted that the applicant approached the High Court only after the limitation period for filing a statutory appeal u/s 107 of the GST Act had expired. It stated that the act furnishes three months for appeal filing with an additional one-month condonable period upon exhibiting adequate cause. It stated-
“We are rather surprised and are unable to countenance as to how the petitioner can file the present writ petition at this belated stage, merely to bypass the limitation prescribed for filing a statutory appeal under Section 107(1) of the GST Act. It is to be noted that the said Act provides for filing an Appeal within three months of communication of the order sought to be challenged, with a further window of one month as per Section 107(4) of the Act, in case sufficient cause is shown to the satisfaction of the authority.”
The Bench noted that the writ petition was essentially an effort to contest the assessment order after the statutory period for appealing had expired.
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It concluded that the petitioner had been indecisive and had not diligently pursued their rights. The judge concluded:
“In light of the same, we are of the view that entertaining this writ petition would amount to allowing the petitioner to circumvent the statutory appellate procedure.”
Subsequently, the HC quashed the writ petition.
| Case Title | M/S Mishra Security Services Vs State Of U.P. |
| Case No. | WRIT TAX No. – 715 of 2026 |
| For Petitioner | Apoorv Dev, Prashant Kumar Singh |
| For Respondent | C.S.C. |
| Allahabad High Court | Read Order |
