HC Directed to Admit Appeal of Petitioner Who Failed to Submit it Electronically Due to Technical Glitch of Portal

Case Details: K V Reddy Granites & Exports v. State of Andhra Pradesh - [2023] 153 taxmann.com 542 (Andhra Pradesh)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • U. Durga Prasad Rao & Smt. Venkata Jyothirmai Pratapa, JJ.

Facts of the Case

In the present case, the appeal of petitioner was rejected on the ground that the appellate authority is not empowered to admit the appeal filed manually. The petitioner contended that it had submitted the appeal papers manually after making a complaint about the technical glitch occurred while uploading the appeal and screenshots of e-mail complaints.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the petitioner made an effort to submit the appeal electronically but due to unknown technical glitch, the web portal did not permit the petitioner to process the appeal electronically which was evident from the screenshots submitted by the petitioner.

The Court noted that Rule 108 of CGST Rules, 2017 lays that such appeal shall be filed either electronically or otherwise as may be notified by Commissioner, but so far there was no such notification. However, in such case, the petitioner can’t be penalised or deprived of filing appeal manually. Therefore, the Court held that appeal rejection order passed by Additional Commissioner was liable to be set aside and he was directed to admit appeal.

List of Cases Reviewed

• • Sri Siddhi Kalko Bhagavan Stone Crusher v. Asstt. Commissioner (ST) [2020] 115 taxmann.com 429/2020 (42) G.S.T.L. 328 (AP) (para 6) followed.

List of Cases Referred to

• • Sri Siddhi Kalko Bhagavan Stone Crusher v. Asstt. Commissioner (ST) [2020] 115 taxmann.com 429/2020 (42) G.S.T.L. 328 (AP) (para 6)