Calcutta HC Condones 66-Day Delay in GST Appeal by Small Trader Due to Lack of Knowledge

The Calcutta High Court condoned the 66-day delay in filing a small businessman’s Goods and Service Tax (GST) appeal as of proper knowledge of the GST portal. Further asked the appellate authority to hear out and dispose of the appeal, on merit, upon giving the petitioner an opportunity for a hearing.

The applicant, Sukanta Pal V contested the order passed by the appellate authority u/s 107 of the Central/West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act”), whereby the appeal of the applicant had been rejected on the ground that the same was blocked by limitation. The attributes are not in dispute.

U/s 73 of the said Act, a proceeding initiated for the tax period May 2017 to March 2018, an order u/s 73(9) of the said Act was passed on 31st October 2023.

The applicant has preferred a petition from the order above while the appeal filing has been made pre-deposit of Rs 63,278 as is needed to uphold the appeal under the provisions of section 107(6) of the mentioned act, there has been a late appeal filing. In this case, the applicant has filed an application dated 3rd April 2024 explaining the delay in preferring the appeal.

Without considering the grounds for the condonation of the delay, the appellate authority has rejected the petition inter alia because the appellate authority is competent merely to condone the delay furnished the petition is filed within 1 month beyond the said time. He furnished that the above-said order is perverse. This Calcutta High Court has the authority to allow the appeal to proceed despite the delay by choosing to overlook it.

Upon filing the appeal, the petitioner also made a pre-deposit of Rs.63,278, as required to maintain the appeal. Therefore, there is no lack of good faith on the part of the petitioner in filing the appeal. It seems that the petitioner has also requested a condonation of delay, stating that due to a lack of proper knowledge of the GST portal, there was a delay of 66 days in filing the appeal.

The applicant is a small businessman and no bona fide on the part of the applicant was there and one does not stand to gain via filing a late petition, it was opined by the court that the appellate authority is required to have considered the application for the condonation of delay filed via the applicant. The appellate authority seems to have denied the petition on the grounds of the limitation via inter alia, citing that the dealy could merely be condoned given that it is filed within 1 month of the said time.

Read Also: Notable HC Cases on Condonation of Delay in GST Appeals

The single bench of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury while condoning the delay asked the appellate authority to hear out and dispose of the petition on the merit of furnishing a chance of hearing to the applicant within 8 weeks.