Tns Express PVT LTD And Anr vs. The State Of Assam And 2 Ors

Held

The Court held that the petitioners' right to file an appeal cannot be taken away merely because they have paid the entire amount demanded in the orders passed under Section 129(3) of the State Act. The Court observed that Section 107 of the CGST Act, 2017, allows appeals against orders passed by adjudicating authorities, and Section 107(6) outlines conditions for filing an appeal, including payment of admitted tax or a portion of the disputed tax. The proviso to Section 107(6) specifies payment of 25% of the penalty for appeals against orders under Section 129(3). The Court found that the petitioners had made the entire payment, which was duly acknowledged, and had attempted to file appeals within the limitation period, while also intimating the glitch and payment under protest. The Court noted that Section 129(5) of the State Act, stating that proceedings are deemed concluded upon payment, refers to the notice under Section 129(3) and not necessarily the order itself. Therefore, the Court concluded that the fault of the respondent authorities in not reflecting the payments on the portal prevented the petitioners from filing their appeals. The Court granted liberty to the petitioners to file appeals within 10 days, directed the respondents to provide portal infrastructure for acceptance, and allowed manual filing with acceptance by respondents if portal infrastructure is unavailable, waiving the limitation period for these filings.

Facts

The petitioners, TNS Express Pvt Ltd and another, filed writ petitions before the Gauhati High Court aggrieved by the respondent authorities' failure to reflect their payments of GST demands on the official portal. This non-reflection prevented them from filing statutory appeals. In WP(C)/3392/2024, a vehicle transporting Pan Masala was intercepted, leading to proceedings under Section 129(3) of the Assam GST Act, 2017. A demand of Rs. 16,35,840/- was raised, which the petitioner paid under protest on 19.10.2023. Similarly, in WP(C)/3417/2024, a vehicle was intercepted, and after revised proceedings, a demand of Rs. 16,08,192/- was raised, which the petitioner paid on 06.09.2023. Both petitioners attempted to file appeals but encountered portal alerts requiring complete payment, despite having paid the demanded amounts.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioners are entitled to file statutory appeals against the orders passed under Section 129(3) of the Assam Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, despite having paid the entire demanded amount of tax, penalty, and cess, when the payment is not reflected on the GST portal, thereby preventing the filing of appeals? Petitioner's arguments: The petitioners argued that they have been deprived of their valuable right to file an appeal due to a glitch on the GST portal and the failure of the respondent authorities to update the payment status. They contended that they paid the demanded amounts under protest and within the permissible period for filing appeals, and the non-reflection of these payments on the portal is not their fault. They relied on the principle that the right to appeal should not be taken away due to administrative inaction. Revenue's arguments: The respondent authorities argued that upon payment of the amount referred to in Section 129(1) of the State Act, all proceedings in respect of the notice specified in Section 129(3) are deemed to have been concluded, as per Section 129(5) of the State Act. They submitted that a decision was taken on 19.09.2024, indicating that the proceedings were concluded upon full payment of the demand.