Multireach Media Private Limited And Anr. vs. State Of West Bengal And Ors.

Held

The Court held that the petitioners should be treated similarly to those in previous cases where a coordinate bench had condoned delays. The Court noted that the GST portal had multiple tabs, and it was not reasonable to expect a taxpayer to check the "View Additional Notices and Orders" tab for main orders. This difficulty was previously recognized in *Sukumar Kundu* and *Mohammad Hasim Khan*. In *Mohammad Hasim Khan*, despite the petitioner responding to the show-cause notice, the delay was condoned for similar reasons related to the portal's upload location. Taking cue from these observations, the Court decided to remand the matter to the Appellate Authority for a fresh decision on merits. The delay was condoned subject to the petitioners paying Rs. 15,000/- to the Calcutta High Court Legal Services Committee within two weeks. Upon payment and production of the receipt, the Appellate Authority was directed to hear the appeal on merits, rendering the impugned order of July 24, 2025, ineffective. The Court did not expressly leave any issue undecided.

Facts

The petitioners, Multireach Media Private Limited & Anr., challenged an order dated July 24, 2025, passed by the Appellate Authority under Section 107 of the WBGST Act, 2017/CGST Act, 2017. This order dismissed their appeal against an order dated September 26, 2023, passed by the Adjudicating Authority. The Appellate Authority rejected the appeal solely on the grounds of being filed belatedly. The petitioners contended they were unaware of the September 26, 2023 order as it was uploaded on the GST portal under the "View Additional Notices and Orders" tab, a tab they did not regularly check. They also noted that the GST Tribunal was not yet functional, leaving them without a statutory appeal route.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioners' appeal before the Appellate Authority was validly rejected on grounds of delay, considering the order was uploaded on the GST portal under the "View Additional Notices and Orders" tab, leading to a lack of knowledge by the petitioners? Petitioner's Arguments: The petitioners argued that they did not have knowledge of the adjudication order dated September 26, 2023, because it was uploaded on the GST portal under the "View Additional Notices and Orders" tab. They submitted that similar issues faced by other taxpayers have led this Court to condone delays and decide appeals on merits. They relied on the judgments in *Mohammad Hasim Khan Versus The State of West Bengal & Ors* and *Sukumar Kundu Versus Union of India & Ors*. Furthermore, they pointed out that the GST Tribunal, where an appeal against an order under Section 107 would normally lie, was not yet functional. Revenue's Arguments: The respondents supported the impugned order, arguing that the petitioners had responded to the show-cause notice. Therefore, their contention of not having knowledge of the adjudication order should not be accepted.