Naveen Oil Carrier PVT. LTD. vs. Asst. Comms. Of Revenue, Bureau Of Investigation (North Bengal), Alipurduar Zone And Ors.

Held

The Court held that the appellate authority's order rejecting the appeals as barred by limitation could not be sustained. While acknowledging that the amendment to Rule 108, which permits manual filing when electronic filing is not possible due to non-availability of orders, was introduced after the appeals were filed, the Court noted that this amendment was in effect when the appellate authority passed its impugned order. The Court reasoned that the petitioner was indeed prevented from filing electronically as the orders were not uploaded on their portal. Therefore, the appellate authority ought to have considered this subsequent development and the fact that the petitioner was prevented from filing electronically. The Court found the appellate authority's order to be mechanical. The Court affirmed the petitioner's right to maintain the appeals. Consequently, the appellate authority's order was set aside, the appeals were restored, and the matter was remanded back to the appellate authority to be heard and disposed of on merits within eight weeks, subject to the petitioner complying with other formalities.

Facts

The petitioner, Naveen Oil Carrier Pvt. Ltd., is aggrieved by orders dated 23rd/24th February, 2023, issued under Section 129(3) of the WBGST/CGST Act, 2017. The petitioner filed five appeals manually before the appellate authority under Section 107 of the said Act because the orders and demands in Form GST DRC 07 were not uploaded on their portal. The appellate authority, by an order dated 9th October, 2023, rejected these appeals, relying on Rule 108 of the WBGST/CGST Rules, 2017, holding them to be barred by limitation.

Key Issues

1. Whether the appellate authority erred in rejecting the appeals as barred by limitation, when the petitioner was prevented from filing them electronically due to the non-availability of the orders on their portal, contrary to the amended Rule 108 of the WBGST/CGST Rules, 2017? The petitioner argued that once the appellate authority found the appeals to be not in order due to manual filing, it should not have rejected them on other grounds. They contended that Rule 108 was amended effective August 4, 2023, allowing manual appeals if electronic filing is impossible due to non-availability of documents. The petitioner claimed to fall under this scenario and should benefit from the amendment, especially given the non-constitution of the Appellate Tribunal. The State, represented by the learned Additional Government Pleader, did not record any specific arguments against the petitioner's submissions.