Facts of the Case

The petitioner, M/s Theme Engineering Services Private Limited, a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, filed two connected writ petitions (for assessment years 2018-19 and 2019-20) before the High Court of Judicature at Patna against the State of Bihar and its tax officers. Both petitions challenged orders of the Additional Commissioner of State Taxes (Appeal) dismissing the petitioner's appeals filed under Section 107 of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 on the ground that they were filed beyond even the further one-month condonable period after the ordinary three-month limitation. While the matters were listed for a later date, the Registry was directed to list them earlier in view of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs' Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax dated 02.11.2023 (S.O. 4767(E)), an amnesty notification extending the window for filing appeals against orders passed under Sections 73 and 74 on or before 31.03.2023. The Chief Justice and Justice Rajiv Roy delivered an oral judgment on 09.11.2023.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the Appellate Authority or the High Court under Article 226 could condone delay in filing an appeal beyond the outer limit fixed by Section 107(4) of the BGST Act.
  2. Whether Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax could be applied to restore appeals earlier rejected solely for delay.
  3. What conditions the assessee must satisfy to avail restoration under the notification.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The appeals had been rejected purely on the ground of delay beyond the further one-month condonable period under Section 107(4), without any consideration of merits.
  • The subsequently issued CBIC amnesty Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax entitled the petitioner to have the delayed appeals restored and heard on merits.
  • The petitioner was willing to comply with the payment conditions prescribed under the notification in order to secure restoration of the appeals.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The State authorities did not dispute the applicability of Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax to appeals rejected for delay under Section 107(4).
  • The State maintained that restoration could only follow once the admitted tax dues and the pre-deposit prescribed under paragraph 3 of the notification were duly paid.

Court Order/Findings

  • The Court noted that ordinarily neither the Appellate Authority nor the High Court under Article 226 could condone delay beyond the statutory period, but the CBIC's special procedure under Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax extended the appeal window to 31.01.2024 for orders passed on or before 31.03.2023 under Sections 73/74.
  • The Court held that the special procedure under the amnesty notification overrides the ordinary bar under Section 107(4), and appeals earlier rejected for delay are liable to be restored if the payment conditions in paragraph 3 of the notification are satisfied.
  • The impugned orders rejecting the appeals were set aside; the assessee was directed to satisfy the payment conditions (admitted dues in full, plus 12.5% of the disputed tax, at least 20% of that amount through the Electronic Cash Ledger) before 31.01.2024, failing which the appeals would stand rejected.
  • As a further liberty, the Court directed the Commissioner of State Taxes to instruct officers that even assessees whose earlier writ petitions against delay-based rejection had been dismissed by the Court could still avail the notification's benefit.

Important Clarification

A CBIC amnesty notification extending the appeal-filing window under Sections 73/74 can operate to restore appeals dismissed purely for delay beyond Section 107(4)'s outer limit, even where courts had earlier held that such delay could not be condoned — restoration, however, remains conditional on payment of admitted dues and the prescribed pre-deposit within the notified cut-off date.

Sections Involved

  • Section 107 of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 – prescribes the limitation period (three months, extendable by one month) for filing appeals against adjudication orders.
  • Sections 73 and 74 of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 – govern determination of tax not paid or short paid, without and with fraud or suppression respectively.
  • Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax dated 02.11.2023 – CBIC's special one-time amnesty procedure for filing or restoring delayed appeals.

Decision – In Favour of

The decision favours the Assessee. The Court set aside the rejection of the delayed appeals in both writ petitions and directed their restoration for consideration on merits, subject only to compliance with the amnesty notification's payment conditions — a conditional but substantive relief.

Related Case Laws

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

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Judicature at Patna
  • Case No.: Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 9066 of 2023 with CWJC No. 8928 of 2023
  • CNR: Not available
  • Coram: Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Rajiv Roy
  • Decision Date: 09-11-2023
  • Disposal Nature: Allowed

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