GST Registration Found Not Credible, Fails to File Returns: Madras HC Refuses to Condone 418-Day Delay in Appeal [Read Order]

In a recent ruling, the Madras High Court has declined to condone a 418-day delay in filing a writ appeal against a GST assessment order. The court observed that the taxpayers' GST registration itself was not credible and that statutory returns were not filed despite holding registration, lapses which went to the root of the matter and left no reason for the High Court to interfere even on merits.

The appellant filed the writ petition, S.K Knit Apparels, against a common order dated 09 September 2024, passed by a single judge of the High Court, which had dismissed the firm's writ petition arising from GST assessment proceedings for the 2017-18 tax period.

The assessee, S.K Knit Apparels, prayed for condonation of delay by citing personal difficulties faced by the partner handling the litigation, including a family bereavement and hospitalisation of his father-in-law. It was further contended that the delay occurred due to a belief that a statutory appeal could be filed before the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT).

The High Court observed that the reasons relating to bereavement and hospitalisation were vague and not supported by any valid documentary evidence, such as medical records or mentioning the specific dates.

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Also, the court held that since the GST Appellate Tribunal is not constituted, writ petitions are the appropriate remedy, and the assessee, in fact, filed the writ petition earlier with full knowledge. Having invoked writ jurisdiction in time, the assessee could not later cite an alternate remedy before GSTAT to explain the delay. Accordingly, no sufficient cause was found to condone the 418-day delay in filing the writ appeal.

The bench justice AnitaSumanth and Justice Mummineni Sudheer noted that the Single Judge, in the impugned order, had examined the matter in detail on merits, recording adverse findings against the assessee. These included observations that the assessee’s GST registration itself lacked credibility and that, despite holding registration, statutory returns had not been filed in accordance with Section 39(8) of the Tamil Nadu GST Act.

Accordingly, the high court ruled that the assessee's reliance on the September 2025 Notification extending timelines for filing appeals before the tribunal was also rejected, with the Court clarifying that the notification had no relevance to the question of condonation of the delay of 418 days in filing a writ appeal.

The Madras High Court dismissed both the condonation petition and the writ appeal at the SR stage, with no order as to costs.

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