S.107 GST Act | Taxpayer Can't Ignore Order Merely Because Copy Was Illegible: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has made it clear that a taxpayer cannot ignore an order passed against it and uploaded on the GST portal, merely because copy of the order was allegedly illegible.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain thus refused to condone the taxpayer's delay in filing appeal against a GST demand order merely on the ground that the order supplied to it...
The Delhi High Court has made it clear that a taxpayer cannot ignore an order passed against it and uploaded on the GST portal, merely because copy of the order was allegedly illegible.
A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain thus refused to condone the taxpayer's delay in filing appeal against a GST demand order merely on the ground that the order supplied to it was illegible. It observed,
“The contention of the Petitioner is that the Order-in-Original dated 04th February, 2025 is not a legible order. If so, the Petitioner had a duty to approach the Department and obtain a legible order, if the Petitioner cannot completely ignore the fact that it had received a copy and had not filed an appeal challenging the same.”
The Court was dealing with a petition moved by M/S Moms Cradle Private Limited, engaged in export of readymade garments.
The Petitioner claimed refund of the IGST to the tune of Rs.78,29,825/- with respect to export made against six shipping bills.
The claim was rejected by the Department citing demand raised against the Petitioner over alleged fraudulent availment of Input Tax Credit.
The Petitioner thus sought to challenge the demand order, passed on 4th February, 2025.
The statutory period to prefer an appeal under Section 107 Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 is three months, extendable by further one month.
Thus, the limitation to challenge the demand order had expired on 4th June, 2025.
The Petitioner sought condonation of delay on the ground that copy of the demand order that was uploaded on the GST portal is unclear and illegible.
The High Court however observed that as a matter of law, delay in preferring an appeal under Section 107 CGST Act cannot be condoned.
Reliance was placed on M/s Addichem Speciality LLP Vs. Special Commissioner I, Department of Trade and Taxes and Anr. (2024) where a coordinate bench of the High Court had observed that the provision does not allude to aspects such as 'sufficient cause' or other similar factors which may have prevailed and led to further condoncation of delay.
As such, the Court dismissed the plea.
Appearance: Mr. Ritaj Kacker, Mr. Deepansh Dhanija & Ms. Divya Rastogi, Adv. for Petitioner; Mr. Ruchesh Sinha, SSC with Ms. Upasana Vashishtha, Adv. for Respondents
Case title: M/S Moms Cradle Private Limited v. UOI
Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1363
Case no.: W.P.(C) 15509/2025