Facts of the Case

Eversub India Pvt. Ltd. filed a writ petition before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh under Article 226 of the Constitution, seeking directions for timely disposal of two pending appeals filed against Advance Ruling Order No. ARL/02/2021-22 dated 08.12.2021 (filed manually on 12.01.2022) and Advance Ruling Order No. ARL/07/2021-22 dated 10.01.2022 (filed manually on 03.03.2022), both pending before the Haryana Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling (AAAR) well beyond the ninety-day statutory period prescribed under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. Counsel for respondent no.3 placed on record two memos dated 06.09.2023 showing that a hearing had been fixed for 15.09.2023 before the Haryana AAAR at GST Bhawan, Panchkula, communicated by e-mail; the petitioner's counsel denied receipt of that communication.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the continued delay by the AAAR, beyond the statutory ninety-day period, in deciding the petitioner's appeals against the two Advance Ruling orders warranted a mandamus directing time-bound disposal.
  2. Whether the petitioner had validly been put to notice of the hearing date already fixed.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • Appeals against the two Advance Ruling orders had been pending well beyond the ninety-day statutory period prescribed for their disposal, without any decision being rendered.
  • The petitioner denied having received the e-mail communication intimating the hearing date of 15.09.2023, and thus sought a direction ensuring proper notice and expeditious disposal.

Respondent's Arguments

  • Respondent no.3 placed on record memos showing that hearings had in fact been fixed and communicated for 15.09.2023 before the Haryana AAAR, and that the process of hearing had already commenced.

Court Order/Findings

  • Since the hearing process had already begun, the Court found it unnecessary to examine the merits of the pending appeals and instead directed expeditious disposal.
  • The Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling was directed to make efforts to decide the two pending appeals within six weeks from the date of the order.
  • The petitioner was directed to be put to notice at least ten days in advance of any hearing to be fixed, addressing the petitioner's grievance regarding the earlier communication.
  • The writ petition was disposed of on these terms, without any adjudication of the substantive advance-ruling questions.

Important Clarification

Where a statutory appellate authority under the GST advance-ruling mechanism exceeds the prescribed ninety-day period for deciding an appeal, courts will issue time-bound mandamus directions for expeditious disposal, coupled with adequate advance-notice safeguards, without themselves adjudicating the underlying advance-ruling questions.

Sections Involved

  • Section 100, Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — provides for appeal to the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling against an Advance Ruling order.
  • Section 101, Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — prescribes the ninety-day period within which the AAAR must ordinarily pass its order.

Decision – In Favour of

This is a procedural disposal, not a decision on merits. The writ petition was disposed of with a direction for time-bound decision by the AAAR within six weeks, which is a procedural benefit to the petitioner insofar as expedition was secured, but no finding was made on the substance of either Advance Ruling appeal, which remains to be decided by the Appellate Authority.

Related Case Laws

No directly on-point case notes are currently published on this site.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Punjab and Haryana
  • Case No.: CWP-23895-2023
  • CNR: Not available
  • Coram: Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan
  • Decision Date: 19.10.2023
  • Disposal Nature: Disposed of with directions

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