The Delhi High Court viewed that the non-availability of digital data submitted online in the GST portal due to technical glitches and set aside the order rejecting GST appeal. It was viewed that there is no material on record to disbelieve the contention of the petitioner that the copy of the original order in the appeal was annexed with the appeal paper book at the time of the online submissions.
The Petitioner, M/S Reva Giant Implex LLP filed an application seeking a refund of Rs 8,37,487/-. Under the said application, Petitioner was issued a Show Cause Notice dated 03.06.2021 seeking justification of the refund application.
The Assistant Commissioner, GST vide order allowed the refund of Rs 1,79,694.33/- and further rejected the refund claim of Rs. 6,57,792.67/-. Petitioner thereafter filed an appeal but the same has been rejected being time-barred.
Counsel for respondents submitted that he has received instructions that the online portal does not show that any appeal was filed against the filing number. This is disputed by counsel for the petitioner, who submitted that the petitioner had filed an appeal on 12.07.2021 at 12:50 PM and acknowledgement was issued to the petitioner by the rules.
It was argued that the Appellate Authority has held that the appeal was filed electronically on 12.07.2021 and the last date of filing of appeal was 04.10.2021. Petitioner has been non-suited by the appellate order on the ground that a certified copy of the order appealed against had to be submitted within seven days of the online submissions and since the certified copy was not filed within one week of the online submissions, the appeal was deemed to be barred by limitation.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the original order was filed along with online submissions. This Court had directed the respondents on 21.02.2024 to produce the digital file that was uploaded by the petitioner at the time of making the online submissions.
The Counsel for the respondents submitted that there is a glitch in the system and as per his instructions, the digital data of the online submissions is not available on the online portal of the department.
The court of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Ravinder Dudeja viewed that there is no material on record to disbelieve the contention of the petitioner that the copy of the original order in appeal was annexed with the appeal paper book at the time of the online submissions.
The Court set aside the order and remitted the matter to the Appellate Authority to consider the appeal of the petitioner on merits by law.
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