Date of GST Appeal Filed Online recognized as Date of Appeal Filing as Order uploaded in Portal within time limit: Madras HC sets aside order [Read Order]

The Date of the GST appeal filed online recognised as  the date of filing of the appeal as the GST order was uploaded in the GST portal within the time limit mentioned under Sub-rule(3) of Rule 108 of GST Rules. The Madras High Court set aside the order and directed the appellate authority to receive and dispose of the appeal on merits.

The High Court bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy observed that “In the case at hand, the order was duly uploaded on the common portal. In such event, the date of online filing is the date of filing of the appeal. Even otherwise, the filing of a hard copy is a purely procedural requirement.”

The assessee, Sunbeam Generators Pvt. Ltd filed a writ petition challenging the appellate order. It was claimed that the assessee had applied for refund under Section 54 of applicable GST enactments. Such an application was rejected by order dated 13.04.2022.

Further asserted that the assessee carried the matter in appeal before the GST appellate authority by presenting such appeal online on 28.06.2022. The time limit for filing such an appeal was up to 12.07.2022. On account of the hard copy of the appeal being submitted on 23.05.2023, the appeal was rejected.

The date of issuance of provisional acknowledgment shall be considered as the date of filing of the appeal only if the order appealed against was uploaded on the common portal, submitted by the respondent-GST department’s counsel.

However, the assessee placed on record evidence that the appeal was filed in Form GST APL-01 through the online mode on the GST portal on 28.06.2022. Such filing was in accordance with Rule 108(1) of the CGST Rules, 2017 and within the prescribed period of limitation.

The High court accentuated sub-rule 3 of Rule 108 of GST Rules and clearly stated that the need to file a self-certified copy of the order being appealed applies only when the order is not uploaded on the GST common portal. In this case, since the GST order was duly uploaded on the common portal, the date of online filing is recognized as the date of appeal filing. Moreover, the submission of a hard copy of GST appeal is merely a procedural requirement. Therefore, the challenged order is not sustainable.

Thus, the impugned order was set aside. Mr.G.Natarajan appeared for the assessee and Mr. Sai Srujan Tayi, Sr. SC appeared for the respondents.

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