Sankar Agarwala Vs Joint Commissioner of CGST And Central Excise (Appeal) (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court considered a writ petition filed under Article 226 challenging an order dated June 23, 2025, passed by the Joint Commissioner, CGST & Central Excise (Appeal), Siliguri Commissionerate. The appellate authority had dismissed the petitioner’s appeal on the ground that it was filed beyond the statutory period and outside the condonable period of 30 days prescribed under the CGST Act, 2017. The underlying proceedings arose from a show-cause notice issued under Section 73(1) of the Act, to which the petitioner did not file a reply, resulting in an order dated December 14, 2023, being passed under Section 73(9) determining tax, interest, and penalty.
The petitioner argued that he was unaware of the show-cause notice because it had been uploaded only under the “Additional Notices and Orders” tab on the GST portal rather than the normal tab. As a result, he did not file a reply and only became aware of the adverse order later, after which he promptly filed an appeal along with a request for condonation of delay. The petitioner requested that the matter be remanded so that he could file a reply to the show-cause notice.
