Venkateswara Rao Kesanakurti Vs State of Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh High Court)
The Andhra Pradesh High Court heard a batch of writ petitions filed by taxpayers whose statutory appeals under Section 107 of the Andhra Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 were dismissed by the appellate authorities on the ground of limitation. The petitioners had challenged assessment orders by filing appeals beyond the prescribed limitation period and also beyond the additional period of delay that the appellate authority is empowered to condone under Section 107(4). Aggrieved by the rejection of their appeals, the petitioners approached the High Court seeking relief.
Section 107 of the APGST Act provides that an appeal against an adjudication order must be filed within three months by an aggrieved person, or within six months where an appeal is directed by the Chief Commissioner. Sub-section (4) empowers the appellate authority to condone delay only up to a further period of one month, provided sufficient cause is shown. The core issue before the Court was whether, despite this statutory restriction, the appellate authority could rely on Section 29(2) read with Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 to condone delay beyond the additional one-month period.
The petitioners contended that Section 29(2) of the Limitation Act permits the application of Sections 4 to 24 of the Limitation Act, including Section 5, to special or local laws unless expressly excluded. Relying on various judgments of the Supreme Court, they argued that the appellate authority retained the power to condone delay beyond the period specified under Section 107(4). The State opposed this contention, arguing that the scheme of Section 107 impliedly excludes the application of Section 5 of the Limitation Act, and that the appellate authority has no jurisdiction to condone delay beyond the statutorily prescribed limits.
