Illness of Firm's Partner is Sufficient Cause for Condonation of Delay: Calcutta HC Quashes GST Appellate Order [Read Order]

In a recent ruling, the Calcutta High Court held that the illness of a partner of a partnership firm is a sufficient cause for condonation of delay in filing a statutory appeal and set aside the Goodsand Services Tax (GST) appellate authority order.

Ramaa Engineering and Firm’s partner filed a writ petition before the Calcutta High Court challenging an appellate order dated 28 July 2025 passed under Section 107 of the West Bengal GST Act, 2017 and the Central GST Act, 2017.

The appellate authority had dismissed the petitioners’ appeal against an assessment order passed under Section 73 of the GST Act, only on the ground that the appeal was filed beyond the prescribed limitation period.

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The petitioners had filed the statutory appeal along with an application seeking condonation of delay. They explained that the delay occurred because petitioner no. 2, who is a partner of petitioner no. 1 partnership firm, was suffering from illness during the relevant period. Medical documents in support of the illness were placed before the appellate authority.

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Mr. Ray, the counsel of the petitioners, argued that the delay was due to genuine and unavoidable circumstances. The counsel submitted that petitioner no. 1 is a partnership firm consisting of petitioner no. 2 and his wife and due to the illness of petitioner no. 2 the firm was unable to take timely steps to file the appeal. He further argued that the delay was marginal and not the result of gross negligence or deliberate inaction.

The single-judge bench comprising Justice Om Narayan Rai observed that the appellate authority had taken note of the illness of petitioner no. 2 as well as the medical documents filed in support of that claim. The court further observed that the appellate authority had not disbelieved the explanation offered by the petitioners, yet proceeded to dismiss the appeal only on the ground of delay.

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The court explained that petitioner no. 2 was a partner of the firm and his illness was a relevant factor which directly affected the filing of the appeal. The court pointed out that in cases of marginal delay supported by bona fide reasons, it cannot be said that the appellants were grossly negligent in pursuing their statutory remedy.

The court held that the appellate authority ought to have condoned the delay instead of dismissing the appeal at the threshold. The impugned appellate order dated 28 July 2025 was set aside, the delay in filing the appeal was condoned and the appeal was restored to the file of the appellate authority for consideration on merits. The writ petition was disposed of with no order as to costs.

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