Bajrang Iron Store Through Its Proprietor Bajrang Kumar Aggarwal vs. Assistant Commissioner Janakpuri Division Delhi West & Ors.
Original PDF →Facts
The Petitioner, Bajrang Iron Store, filed a writ petition challenging three Orders-in-Original and three Show Cause Notices (SCNs) issued by the Assistant Commissioner, Janakpuri Division, Delhi West. The Petitioner had applied for cancellation of GST registration in April 2019, stating the business was shut down. The SCNs alleged that the Petitioner had fraudulently availed ineligible Input Tax Credit (ITC) for an entity named M/s Himgiri Sales, which was allegedly non-existent. The Petitioner claimed to have filed replies to the SCNs but did not receive personal hearing notices. The Respondent contended that the replies were cryptic and that the orders were appealable.
Held
The Court held that all three impugned Orders-in-Original are appealable under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017. The Court noted that the time limit for filing an appeal under Section 107(1) of the CGST Act had expired for the first order dated 3rd December 2024. However, considering that all three orders were connected, the Court directed the Petitioner to avail the appellate remedy and file the appeal(s) within 30 days from the date of the order. The Court further directed that if the appeal is filed within this period, the appeal concerning the order dated 3rd December 2024 shall not be dismissed on the grounds of limitation. The Appellate Authority was directed to adjudicate the appeals on merits in accordance with the law. The writ petition was disposed of in these terms.
Key Issues
1. Whether the impugned Orders-in-Original dated 3rd December 2024, 24th January 2025, and 1st February 2025 are appealable under Section 107 of the CGST Act, 2017? Petitioner's Contention: The Petitioner, through its counsel, implicitly accepted the appealable nature of the orders by filing a writ petition challenging them, but primarily sought relief from the High Court. Respondent's Contention: The Respondent, through its counsel, explicitly argued that the impugned orders are appealable under Section 107 of the CGST Act, 2017, and that the time limit for filing an appeal had expired for the first order. The Respondent also argued that the Petitioner's reply to the SCNs was cryptic and lacked merit.
Sections Cited
Section 107, Section 107(1)
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
O R D E R % 09.04.2025
This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
The present petition has been filed by the Petitioner- Bajrang Iron Store through its proprietor Bajrang Kumar Aggarwal under Article 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, inter alia, assailing the impugned Order-in-Original dated 3rd December 2024, 24th January, 2025 and 1st February, 2025 (hereinafter, ‘impugned orders’) and Show Cause Notice dated 24th July 2024, 25th July 2024 and 3rd August 2024 (hereinafter, ‘SCNs’).
At the outset, ld. Counsel for the Petitioner submits that the impleadment of Respondent Nos.2, 3 and 4 was only to clarify the various orders passed by them and there was no intention to implead them in a personal capacity. Accordingly, Respondent Nos. 2, 3 and 4 are deleted from the array of parties. This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 20:35:33
Vide the impugned orders, various demands and penalties have been raised against the Petitioner. The case of the Petitioner is that he was engaged in trading of various iron items and was registered under the Goods and Service Tax (hereinafter, ‘GST’) law with GSTI No. 07AJMPA4878K1ZR.
On 11th April, 2019, the Petitioner filed an application for cancellation of the registration as he had shut down the business. Various SCNs were issued in respect of one entity called M/s Himgiri Sales. The allegation in the SCNs was that ineligible Input Tax Credit (hereinafter, ‘ITC’) was availed of by the Petitioner which was in effect fraudulent in nature and the firm was itself non-existent. In these SCNs, the impugned orders have been passed.
The case of the Petitioner is that he had only filed the reply to the said SCNs but no personal hearing notice was received.
Ld. Counsel for the Respondent disputes this position and submits that even in the reply filed, there is no response on merits at all and the reply is absolutely cryptic. Ld. Counsel further submits that this is an appealable order.
In terms of Section 107 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter, ‘CGST Act’) all the three above orders i.e. impugned orders would be appealable orders.
The time limit for filing the appeal would be three months in terms of Section 107(1) of the CGST Act. The said period had expired in respect of the first impugned Order-in-Original dated 3rd December, 2024. 10. Since all the three orders are connected, the Petitioner is directed to avail of the appellate remedy and file the appeal/s within 30 days from today. If the appeal is filed within 30 days, the appeal qua order dated 3rd December, 2024 shall not be dismissed as being barred by limitation. This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 20:35:33
Appeal against all three orders shall be adjudicated on merits by the Appellate Authority in accordance with law.
Petition is disposed of in these terms. All pending applications, if any, are also disposed of. PRATHIBA M. SINGH, J RAJNEESH KUMAR GUPTA, J APRIL 9, 2025 Rahul/ck This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 20:35:33
Reproduced from the public record of the Delhi High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.