Facts of the Case

  • The petitioner, M/s. Singla Trading Company, through its proprietor Smt. Rajni Singla, filed a writ petition challenging the appellate authority's order dated 21.06.2022.
  • The respondent appellate authority (Commercial Taxes, Bikaner) had returned the petitioner's statutory appeal against an audit assessment order dated 21.03.2022 passed in Form GST ADT-02.
  • The sole ground for returning the appeal was that the petitioner had submitted the appeal memo offline rather than online.

 

Issues Involved

  • Whether an appellate authority is justified in rejecting/returning a statutory appeal solely on the grounds of being filed in offline mode when the GST department has failed to provide a corresponding electronic/online module for such filings.
  • Whether a taxpayer can be left completely remediless due to a structural or technical limitation in the online portal provided by the GST authorities.

 

Petitioner’s Arguments

  • The petitioner’s counsel argued that the GST portal did not provide any functional online module or mechanism to submit an appeal electronically against an audit order passed in Form GST ADT-02.
  • Left with no alternative remedy to contest the demand notice, the petitioner preferred the appeal in physical (offline) format.
  • It was urged that rejecting the offline appeal on technical grounds while failing to provide an online route leaves the assessee completely remediless, making the appellate authority's rejection illegal and unjustified.

 

Respondent’s Arguments

  • The learned counsel for the respondents candidly conceded to the factual scenario and confirmed that an online portal module for filing an appeal against an order issued under Form GST ADT-02 had not been prescribed or made functional under the GST Act and Rules.
  • The respondents admitted that the appellant had been rendered remediless due to this gap.
  • Consequently, they submitted that the appellate authority could be directed by the Court to accept the offline physical appeal and decide it on its merits.

 

Court Order / Findings

  • The Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sandeep Mehta and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Kuldeep Mathur, took note of the mutual consensus and the portal glitch.
  • The Court observed that a taxpayer cannot be penalized or left without a remedy due to the absence of technical infrastructure on the official GST portal.
  • The High Court allowed the writ petition and directed the petitioner to file the physical/offline appeal against the audit order dated 21.03.2022 with the appellate authority within 30 days.
  • The appellate authority was explicitly ordered to accept this offline appeal, grant a hearing to the appellant, and decide the case strictly on its merits in accordance with law.

 

Important Clarification

  • Technical Lacunae Cannot Deny Justice: If the revenue department fails to provision an active online link or module on the GST portal for filing statutory returns or appeals, it cannot mandate electronic filing as the sole permissible mode to the detriment of the assessee.
  • Acceptance of Offline Remedial Actions: In the absence of system modules (such as for Form GST ADT-02 appeals), physical/offline submissions must be accepted by the authorities to preserve the taxpayer's statutory right to appeal.

 

Section Involved

  • Article 226 of the Constitution of India (Power of High Courts to issue certain writs)
  • Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 & Rajasthan Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (Read with corresponding Rules regarding Appeals and Audit Order Form GST ADT-02)


Link to download the order

https://mytaxexpert.co.in/uploads/1782972747_128compressed.pdf

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