Harsh Deepk Shah Vs Union of India & Ors (Gujarat High Court)
The petitioner challenged the Order-in-Appeal dated 30.05.2025 and the Order-in-Original dated 24.04.2024. The appellate authority had rejected the petitioner’s appeal as not maintainable and time-barred. It was undisputed that the appeal against the Order-in-Original was filed on 05.10.2024 with a delay of six days beyond the maximum permissible period of 120 days prescribed under Section 107 of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
The petitioner argued that the High Court, exercising jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution, could condone the delay, relying on the Full Bench decision in Panoli Intermediate (India) Pvt. Ltd. The petitioner also contended that substantial GST amounts had already been paid and undertook to clear the remaining liability.
The respondents opposed the plea, relying on decisions of the Supreme Court, particularly Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Health Care Limited, and subsequent judgments holding that appellate authorities lack power to condone delays beyond the statutory maximum and that writ jurisdiction cannot be used to bypass legislative limits.
The Court examined Section 107 of the GST Act and noted that the appellate authority can condone delay only up to one additional month beyond the initial three-month period. Since the appeal was filed beyond this aggregate period, the appellate authority rightly held it lacked jurisdiction to condone the delay.
