Facts of the Case

The petitioner, M/s MRF Limited, a company having its office at Patna, Bihar, filed an appeal against an order of the tax department before the Appellate Authority under the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The appeal was dismissed on 10.02.2023 solely on the ground that the petitioner had failed to file a certified copy of the impugned order within seven days of institution, as then required by Rule 108(3) of the BGST Rules, 2017. However, before this dismissal, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs had issued Notification No.26/2022-Central Tax dated 26.12.2022 amending the pari materia CGST Rule 108(3), providing that where the order appealed against is uploaded on the common portal, a final acknowledgment in FORM GST APL-02 issued by the Appellate Authority, indicating the appeal number, is sufficient, and the date of issue of the provisional acknowledgment is treated as the date of filing of the appeal.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether a certified copy of the impugned order is mandatorily required to be filed for a GST appeal to be validly instituted, once the order has been uploaded on the common portal.
  2. Whether the amended Rule 108(3), permitting an auto-generated acknowledgment, applies to appeals under the pari materia state GST Rules.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner contended that the appeal was wrongly dismissed for non-production of a certified copy, when the amended Rule 108(3) dispensed with this requirement once the order is uploaded on the portal and an attested/auto-populated copy is available.
  • It was argued that requiring a certified copy in these circumstances served no purpose since the order's authenticity was verifiable directly from the portal.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The Revenue did not seriously contest that the amendment to Rule 108(3) was in pari materia between the CGST and BGST Rules, and effectively conceded that the certified-copy requirement stood diluted where the order was portal-uploaded.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Court held that once the decision or order appealed against is uploaded on the common portal, no certified copy is required, and an attested or auto-populated copy is sufficient compliance for institution of the appeal.
  • The date of issue of the final acknowledgment in FORM GST APL-02 is to be treated as the date of filing of the appeal, in terms of the amended Rule 108(3).
  • The order rejecting the appeal for want of a certified copy was set aside, and the appeal was restored to the file of the Appellate Authority for hearing and disposal on merits, with the petitioner directed to appear on a specified date.
  • The writ petition was allowed with these observations and directions.

Important Clarification

Following the amendment to Rule 108(3) of the CGST/State GST Rules (Notification No.26/2022-Central Tax), an appellant is no longer required to separately obtain and file a certified copy of the order appealed against when that order has already been uploaded on the GST common portal. The date on which the system-generated provisional/final acknowledgment (FORM GST APL-02) is issued is deemed the date of filing of the appeal, and appellate authorities cannot reject an appeal purely for lack of a certified copy in such cases.

Sections Involved

  • Rule 108(3), Bihar/Central GST Rules, 2017 (as amended in 2022) — governs the manner and proof of filing an appeal, including the requirement (or dispensation) of a certified copy where the order is portal-uploaded.
  • FORM GST APL-02 — the acknowledgment issued by the Appellate Authority indicating the appeal number, whose date of issue now fixes the date of filing.
  • Section 107, CGST/BGST Act, 2017 — the substantive provision governing appeals to the Appellate Authority against orders of adjudicating authorities.

Decision – In Favour of

The decision is in favour of the Assessee. The dismissal of the appeal for want of a certified copy was set aside and the appeal was restored for fresh hearing on merits.

Case Details

Court: High Court of Judicature at Patna
Case No.: Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.7004 of 2023
Coram: Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Madhuresh Prasad
Date of Order: 12.05.2023

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