Sonu Kumar vs. The Union Of INDIA
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The petitioner, Sonu Kumar, filed a writ petition before the Patna High Court challenging an order or action by the Central GST and Excise authorities. The petitioner had preferred an appeal before the Appellate Authority under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The petitioner sought condonation of delay in filing the appeal before the Appellate Authority, covering the period from the filing of the present writ petition until the date of the High Court's order. The respondents are various authorities under the Central GST and Excise department.
Held
The Court held that the writ petition does not survive for consideration because the petitioner has already availed the alternative remedy of appeal under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. Consequently, the writ petition was disposed of. The Court requested the Appellate Authority to decide the pending appeal within a reasonable period after following the necessary procedures as per the relevant provisions. The Court did not decide on the merits of the case or the specific grounds of appeal, nor did it explicitly rule on the condonation of delay, but rather directed the Appellate Authority to consider the pending appeal.
Key Issues
1. Whether the present writ petition is maintainable when the petitioner has already availed an alternative remedy by preferring an appeal before the Appellate Authority under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017? 2. Whether the Appellate Authority should be directed to condone the delay in filing the appeal and decide the appeal on merits? The petitioner argued that an appeal was preferred before the Appellate Authority and sought condonation of delay for the period the writ petition was pending. The respondents, represented by the Senior Advocate for the Union of India and Senior Standing Counsel for CGST & CX, did not appear to have made specific arguments on the merits of the case as the matter was disposed of on the ground of alternative remedy.
Sections Cited
Section 107
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Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORAL ORDER (Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P. B. BAJANTHRI) 22 30-01-2025 Learned counsel for the petitioner on instruction submitted that petitioner is stated to have preferred an appeal before the Appellate Authority under Section 107 of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The concerned authority is hereby requested to condone the delay during the pendency of present petition from the date of filing till today.
In view of alternative remedy already availed by the petitioner, the present petition does not survive for Patna High Court CWJC No.968 of 2023(22) dt.30-01-2025 2/2 consideration, accordingly, the present writ petition stands disposed of.
Pending I.A’s., if any, stands disposed of.
Appellate Authority is requested to decide the pending appeal within a reasonable period of time and communicate the decision after following necessary procedure in accordance with relevant provisions.
ritik/- (P. B. Bajanthri, J) (Sunil Dutta Mishra, J) U
Reproduced from the public record of the Patna High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.