“Reasons is the Heartbeat of Every Conclusion”: Himachal Pradesh HC Quashes GST Appellate Order Dismissing Appeal on Limitation without Due Reasoning [Read Order]

The Himachal Pradesh High Court recently set aside an appellate order that dismissed a taxpayer’s appeal, solely on the ground of limitation without assigning proper valid reasons for the same.

The Petitioner, Anil Kumar is a registered taxpayer under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, 2017 and owner-driver of a single commercial vehicle. Anil Kumar approached the High Court seeking relief against the suo moto cancellation of his GST registration by the GST authorities on account of non-filing of GST returns for the period between April 2023 and February 2025.

Following the cancellation, the petitioner filed an appeal before the Appellate Authority. However, the appeal was filed after a delay of 277 days and was summarily dismissed by the Appellate Authority solely on the ground of delay, without recording any reasons beyond stating "delay in submission of appeal” as was given in the GST APL-02 uploaded on the website.

Comprehensive Guide of Law and Procedure for Filing of Income Tax Appeals, Click Here

Consequently, the petitioner approached the High Court, being represented by Arvinder Arora and Vidushi Sharma. The petitioner admitted that though an amount of ₹2,15,384 remained pending towards his tax liability, the same did not call for the appellate order which was arbitrary, unsustainable and disproportionate to the alleged violation.

On the other hand, V.B. Verma, Anup Rattan, Ramakant Sharma, Sharmila Patial, and. Vijay Arora, Godavari appeared for the respondents and defended the appellate authority’s decision, asserting that the appeal was rightly dismissed due to the 277-day limitation in filing appeal.

A Division Bench of Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Sushil Kukreja observed that the appellate authority had failed to assign reasons for rejecting the appeal and emphasized that providing reasons is a fundamental component of fairness and natural justice.

Comprehensive Guide of Law and Procedure for Filing of Income Tax Appeals, Click Here

The bench referred to the Supreme Court ruling in Kranti Associates Pvt. Ltd. and another versus Masood Ahmed Khan and Others (2010) to reiterate that ‘reasons are the heartbeat of every conclusion, that which substitutes subjectivity with objectivity and ensures transparency’.

The Bench held that the absence of reasoning amounted to denial of justice and rendered the appellate order unsustainable.

Accordingly, the High Court quashed the appellate order dated 8th April 2025 and remanded the matter back to the Appellate Authority to consider the appeal afresh after granting an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner, with the proceedings to be concluded expeditiously by 14th August 2025.

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