Ravi Kumar Sahani Vs Senior Joint Commissioner of Revenue (Calcutta High Court)
Calcutta High Court has directed the appellate authority to consider an appeal by Ravi Kumar Sahani on its merits, despite a marginal delay in filing. The petitioner sought condonation for a one-day delay beyond the four-month statutory period prescribed under Section 107 of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax (WBGST) Act, 2017.
The petitioner cited a prior Division Bench judgment of the Calcutta High Court in S. K. Chakraborty & Sons Vs. Union of India & Ors., which held that Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963, is not expressly or impliedly excluded by Section 107 of the WBGST Act. This implies that the appellate authority has the power to condone delays beyond the statutory four months if “sufficient cause” is established.
The respondents argued that the S. K. Chakraborty & Sons judgment had been stayed by the Supreme Court. However, the Calcutta High Court, referencing its own precedent in Pijush Kanti Chowdhury vs State, clarified that a stay order from a superior court does not invalidate a binding precedent unless the decision itself is set aside. A stay is specific to the parties in that proceeding and does not negate the precedential value for other cases.
