Hikal Ltd Vs Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Appeals)-4 (Karnataka High Court)
The Karnataka High Court examined a writ petition challenging an appellate order that dismissed an appeal as time-barred under the Karnataka Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The dispute arose from rejection of the petitioner’s claim for transitional credit. After the petitioner filed an application seeking allowance of transitional credit, a notice proposing rejection was issued, followed by an order rejecting the claim.
Under Section 107 of the KGST Act, the petitioner was ordinarily required to file an appeal within the prescribed limitation period. However, the Central Government issued Notification No. 29/2023 dated 31 July 2023, granting a special window enabling taxpayers to file appeals under Section 107 within three months from the date of the notification. Relying on this notification, the petitioner filed the appeal on 31 October 2023, which was the last date permitted under the notification.
Despite this, the appellate authority dismissed the appeal as barred by limitation without considering the effect of the notification. The High Court noted that the appellate authority had failed to take into account Notification No. 29/2023, which expressly allowed the appeal to be filed up to 31 October 2023. Since the appeal was filed within this extended period, the dismissal on limitation grounds was held to be erroneous.
