In the recent case, the Calcutta High Court set aside the order of Appellate Authority (AA) and directed for rehearing. The court held that the authorities may hear the contentions on its merits provided the petitioner needs to pay Rs.5000/- to the State Revenue Authorities within two weeks of the order’s date.
Krishna Enterprise, the petitioner/assessee, a proprietorship firm,received a show cause notice on 3rd August,2023, under section 73 of the CGST/WBGST (Central Goods Service Tax / West Bengal Goods and Service Tax) Act, 2017, as some inconsistency was found during the inspection for the financial year 2017-18 (tax period July 2017-March 2018). The petitioner filed an appeal under section 107 of the act and made a pre-deposit of 10% of disputed tax.
The petitioner before filing an appeal on March 18,2024 has submitted an affidavit stating the proprietor was unwell from February 28,2024, and hence the delay of 38 days in filing the appeal. A medical certificate was submitted to support the contention. The petitioner was served with a notice on March 19,2024 stating why the appeal should not be rejected for being filed beyond the statutory period.
Despite acknowledging the illness of the petitioner’s proprietor and the medical certificate, AA rejected the appeal stating that petitioner had failed to provide an explanation for not filing the appeal before 28 February ,2024.
A Single bench of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury, held that the appeal may be heard on its merits, therefore, set aside the AA’s order provided the petitioner needs to pay Rs.5000/- to the State Revenue Authorities within two weeks of the order’s date. The AA shall hear and dispose of the appeal on its merits if the payment is made within two weeks.
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