Inability to Access Portal, view Assessment Order and Prefer Appeal on Time due to Dispute with Tax Consultant: Rajasthan HC directs Admission of Appeal [Read Order]

The Rajasthan High Court has come to the aid of a taxpayer who was unable to access the Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) portal and preferred an appeal within the statutory period due to a dispute with her tax consultant.

The Division Bench of Justice Dinesh Mehta and Justice Sangeeta Sharma held that the appeal filed by the proprietorship had been wrongly rejected on limitation grounds by the Appellate Authority, Bikaner.

The petitioner contended that her GST registration was initially filed by a consultant who used his own email ID and mobile number. When disputes arose due to irregular filing of returns, he refused to provide the login credentials. On 05 February 2024, she requested the Commercial Taxes Officer, Churu, to update her mobile number and email. However, the change was made only on 17 March 2025.

Meanwhile, an assessment order dated 25 July 2024 was uploaded on the GST portal, followed by a bank account attachment order on 05 March 2025. The petitioner only became aware of the assessment when she received the attachment order, after which she promptly filed an appeal on 25 March 2025.

The Appellate Authority dismissed it, treating the limitation period as having begun from the date of uploading on the portal.

By the time the petitioner discovered the order through a subsequent bank attachment in March 2025, the 90-day limitation under Section 107 had already been treated as lapsed by the Appellate Authority.

Mahaveer Bishnoi, Additional Advocate General appearing for the respondents submitted that since the order was uploaded on the common portal on 25.07.2024, such date is the date of communication. He further submitted that the alleged dispute between the petitioner and her tax consultant cannot be taken as a refuge to seek condonation of delay in preferring the appeal.

The High Court observed that until the login credentials were updated, the petitioner had no access to the portal and could not reasonably be expected to know of the order.

It was clarified that the phrase “communication to such person” under Section 107(1) of the Rajasthan GST Act, 2017 cannot be equated with mere uploading on the portal, especially in such circumstances. The limitation could only run from 17 March 2025, when her access was restored, or at the latest from 05 March 2025, when she received the attachment order.

The Court quashed the Appellate Authority’s rejection order of 22 April 2025 and directed restoration of the appeal for decision on merits, subject to compliance with Section 107(6). The ruling underscores the need for purposive interpretation where statutory rights are at stake and prevents taxpayers from being penalised for lapses not attributable to them.

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