Appeal Against Order u/s 73 & 74 Passed Before 31-03-23 Allowed Where the Same Was Rejected Solely Due to Expiry of Limitation | HC

Case Details: Pravat Kumar Choudhury v. Additional State Tax Officer - [2023] 156 taxmann.com 312 (Orissa)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Dr B.R. Sarangi, ACTG. CJ. & Murahari Sri Raman, J.
  • Arup Kumar Panda, Adv. Rudra Prasad Kar, Sr. Adv. S. Ray, Sr. Counsel Kshirod Kumar Sahoo, Mukesh Agarwal, Ramesh Chandra Jena, Mohit Agarwal, Abhishek Dash & Ms Zenish Mary Wallace, Advs. for the Petitioner.
  • Sunil Mishra, Diganta Das, Sheshadeba Das, Addl. Standing Counsel for CT & GST Department Ananda Das, T.K. Satapathy, Sr. Standing Counsel for CGST, CX & Customs Avinash Kedia, Jr. Standing Counsel for CGST, CX & Customs & P.K. Parhi, DSGI for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioners approached the Orissa High Court to challenge the first appellate orders rejecting their appeals on the grounds of being time-barred under the CGST Act. Further, due to the non-constitution of GST Appellate Tribunal, they were not able to seek alternative remedies under Section 112 of the CGST Act.

In the meantime, during the pendency of their proceedings, the Ministry of Finance issued a Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax, Dated November 2, 2023, wherein amnesty scheme has been notified outlining a special procedure for filing appeals by taxable persons who were unable to meet the appeal deadline or facing rejection solely based on time limitation. The notification provided new time limit of January 31, 2024 for specified taxpayers subject to certain conditions.

High Court Held

In light of this notification, the court sets aside the impugned orders and remands the matters to the Appellate Authority for further proceedings.