A GST ( Goods and Services Tax ) appeal cannot be rejected solely on the ground of failure to upload the soft copy due to technical glitches as it is beyond the control of the assessee, ruled the Madras High Court. It granted an opportunity for hearing.
M/s.Shivpad Engineers Pvt. Ltd, filed a writ petition challenging the impugned order dated 18.07.2024, passed by the appellate authority, rejecting the appeal filed by the petitioner.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that while the hard copy of the appeal had been duly submitted, the failure to upload the soft copy occurred due to unforeseen technical problems. The petitioner had all the necessary documents and had filed the appeal within the prescribed time frame, with the manual submission completed on 07.07.2023. However, despite multiple attempts, the petitioner was unable to upload the soft copy due to issues with the online portal. As a result, the appeal was rejected on technical grounds, even though the petitioner had fulfilled all other requirements.
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In defence, the Special Government Pleader for the respondents, Mr.G.Nanmaran argued that the appeal was rightly rejected due to non-compliance with the requirement to upload the soft copy.
Furthermore, the respondents pointed out that there was a delay of 1½ months in filing the appeal, which exceeded the statutory limitation period, thus rendering the appeal time-barred. They also contended that the appellate authority lacked the power to condone such a delay under existing legal provisions.
Justice Krishnan Ramasamy concluded that the appeal had been rejected solely because of the technical difficulty in uploading the soft copy. The court recognized that the delay in the appeal process was genuine and attributable to issues beyond the petitioner’s control.
In such cases, the court said that the appeals should not be dismissed without giving the petitioner an opportunity to present their case. Technical difficulties, particularly when proven to be outside the appellant’s control, should not become a barrier to the right to appeal.
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The court set aside the impugned order, allowing the petitioner an additional opportunity to file the appeal. The petitioner was directed to submit the appeal manually and upload the soft copy within 30 days from the date of the court order. The court further instructed the appellate authority to accept the appeal without enforcing the limitation period, provided the other conditions were met.
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