M/S Richearth Infraprojects Private Limited vs. The State Of Bihar

Held

The Court held that the facts of the present case are squarely covered by its previous judgment in M.K. Traders Vs. State of Bihar. It was reiterated that the BGST Act, 2017, is a special Act, and Section 162 bars the jurisdiction of civil courts, except as provided. The Court noted that Section 107(4) restricts the Appellate Authority's power to condone delay to 30 days. Furthermore, the High Court, in its appellate jurisdiction under Section 117(2) proviso, can condone delay upon sufficient cause. However, in the present case, the delay was admitted to be 154 days, not 33 days as claimed by the petitioner. This significant delay could neither be condoned by the learned appellate authority nor by the High Court. Consequently, the writ application was dismissed.

Facts

The petitioner, M/s Richearth Infraprojects Private Limited, a service provider, filed a writ application challenging an order dated 16.03.2026 passed by the Appellate Authority (respondent no. 4). This order rejected the petitioner's appeal under Section 107(1) of the BGST/CGST Act, 2017, solely on the grounds of limitation. The petitioner had been served with a notice under Section 61 for discrepancies in Form GSTR-3B for April 2024 to October 2024, followed by a notice in Form DRC-01 under Section 73(1). No reply was filed by the petitioner, leading to an order under Section 73(9) dated 22.09.2025. The petitioner claimed the appeal was filed belatedly due to illness and sought condonation of a 33-day delay.

Key Issues

1. Whether the High Court, in its writ jurisdiction, can condone a delay in filing an appeal beyond the period prescribed under Section 107(4) of the BGST/CGST Act, 2017? (Question of law) Petitioner's arguments: The petitioner contended that the delay of 33 days in filing the appeal was attributable to the illness of their mother and should be condoned by the Court. They also referred to a previous writ application (CWJC No. 8963 of 2026) which was dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to file a fresh application. Revenue's arguments: The respondent department argued that the appellate authority has the power to condone delay only for a maximum period of one month as per Section 107 of the BGST/CGST Act, 2017, and not beyond. Therefore, the order of the appellate authority was in accordance with the law.