Facts of the Case

The petitioner-company, registered under GST and operating out of the Jeedimetla area of Hyderabad, Telangana, challenged an order-in-original dated 23.02.2025, relating to the tax period 2020-2021, passed by the Assistant Commissioner of Central Tax, Jeedimetla GST Division, Hyderabad. The petitioner sought a declaration that the order was improper, illegal, contrary to facts and unsigned, and also sought a stay of collection of the disputed tax and penalty — totalling over Rs. 1.24 crore across CGST, SGST and IGST including penalty — before the Telangana High Court. It was undisputed that the petitioner had approached the writ court after some delay, having bypassed the alternative statutory remedy of appeal.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the assessee, having bypassed the statutory appellate remedy and approached the writ court after delay, should be relegated to the appellate authority rather than have the merits examined in writ jurisdiction.
  2. Whether the order-in-original, alleged by the petitioner to be unsigned, was in fact digitally signed and therefore valid.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The order-in-original dated 23.02.2025 was improper, illegal, contrary to facts, and unsigned, and ought to be set aside; the appellate authority should also be directed to consider the delay sympathetically given the petitioner's approach to the writ court in the meantime.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The Senior Standing Counsel for the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs opposed the writ petition on grounds of delay, and further submitted that the order-in-original was in fact digitally signed and that the summary of the show cause notice also carried the assessing authority's signature, refuting the unsigned-order plea.

Court Order / Findings

  • Given the availability of the alternative statutory remedy of appeal and the delay in approaching the writ court, the Bench refrained from entering into the merits of the dispute, including the signature question.
  • The Court directed that if the petitioner approaches the appellate authority with the statutory pre-deposit within ten days, the appellate authority shall consider the question of delay sympathetically and decide the appeal in accordance with law; the writ petition was disposed of on this basis without costs.

Important Clarification

  • Where an assessee bypasses the statutory GST appeal remedy and approaches the writ court after delay, courts generally decline to examine the merits (including disputed factual questions like whether an order was digitally signed) and instead relegate the assessee to the appellate authority, often with a direction that delay be considered sympathetically given the intervening writ proceedings.
  • A department's assertion that an order carries a valid digital signature, if not independently rebutted, is generally accepted as sufficient at the writ stage to defeat an 'unsigned order' plea.

Sections Involved

  • Section 107, CGST Act, 2017 – governs the statutory appeal, the alternate remedy to which the petitioner was relegated.
  • Rule 26(3), CGST Rules, 2017 – requires authentication of notices and orders by digital signature, relevant to the petitioner's unsigned-order plea.

Decision – In Favour of

The writ petition was disposed of on procedural grounds relegating the assessee to the statutory appeal, a disposal in favour of neither party on the merits, though broadly accommodating the assessee on the question of delay before the appellate forum.

Case Details

Court: High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad. Case No.: Writ Petition No. 23307 of 2025. Coram: Hon'ble the Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Hon'ble Justice G.M. Mohiuddin. Date of Order: 10th September, 2025.

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