M/S Singh Group vs. State Of U.P. And 2 Others

Held

The Court held that the appellate authority had erred in rejecting the petitioner's appeal as time-barred. The Court reasoned that the Government, recognizing defects in the common portal and later considering COVID-19 circumstances, had exercised its powers to relax limitation periods. Specifically, the period of limitation for orders passed up to 12.06.2020 was suspended, and the date of such orders was deemed to be 31.08.2020. Furthermore, a notification dated 29.08.2021 suspended the limitation period for filing revocation applications from 01.03.2020 to 31.08.2021. The Court found it illogical to restrict this relaxation benefit only to revocation proceedings and not extend it to appeals against such orders, as this would create an absurd situation with different limitation periods for different remedies arising from the same cancellation order. The Court also noted that various court orders, including those from the Supreme Court, had suspended the period of limitation for filing appeals from 15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022. Therefore, the relaxation of limitation, being founded on generic reasons like difficulties in service of orders, should apply to both revocation and appeal proceedings. The order dated 31.03.2022 of the appellate authority was set aside, and the matter was remitted back to the appellate authority to decide the appeal on merits, treating it as filed within the period of limitation.

Facts

The petitioner, M/s Singh Group, filed a writ petition challenging an order dated 31.03.2022 passed by the first appellate authority. This order rejected the petitioner's appeal against an order dated 17.09.2021, which had cancelled the petitioner's GST registration. The appellate authority dismissed the appeal as time-barred, considering the date of the order under appeal to be 11.09.2019, while the petitioner filed their appeal on 18.09.2021. The writ petition was entertained as the GST Tribunal had not been constituted. The petitioner argued that even if the cancellation order was dated 11.09.2019, their appeal filed on 18.09.2021 was within the extended time limits provided by government notifications and court orders.

Key Issues

1. Whether the appeal filed by the petitioner on 18.09.2021 against the order cancelling registration dated 11.09.2019 was within the period of limitation, considering the relaxation of limitation periods due to defects in the common portal and COVID-19 circumstances, as provided under Section 168A of the CGST Act and other government notifications and court orders? Petitioner's arguments: The petitioner contended that the period of limitation for seeking revocation of a registration cancellation order was extended up to 31.08.2021, and an application could be filed by 30.09.2021. They argued that this principle of extended limitation should also apply to appeal proceedings. Reliance was placed on Order No. 1 of 2020 dated 25.06.2020, Notification dated 29.08.2021 under Section 168A of the CGST Act, and a previous High Court judgment in M/s J.K. Infratech Vs Additional Commissioner & Another. They further argued that the relaxation of limitation was generic and applicable to both revocation applications and appeals, as the underlying reason was difficulty in service of orders. Respondent's arguments: The Standing Counsel for the State argued that no benefit of limitation extension had been granted for filing appeals, and therefore, the period of limitation had to be strictly construed.