Hara Prasad Das Vs State of West Bengal and others (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court addressed a writ petition challenging an order dated November 12, 2025, passed by the appellate authority under Section 107 of the West Bengal GST Act, 2017/CGST Act, 2017, which had dismissed the petitioner’s appeal against an order dated August 16, 2024, under Section 73 of the same Act, on the ground of delay. The petitioner had filed an application for condonation of delay, explaining that the appeal papers had been entrusted to a learned Advocate, who delayed filing due to illness and subsequently passed away on January 14, 2025. Additionally, the petitioner was preoccupied with attending to the serious illness and eventual death of his elder brother in January 2025.
The petitioner could retrieve the papers from the late Advocate’s office only on July 10, 2025, after which the appeal was filed on July 12, 2025. The appellate authority, however, had considered only the petitioner’s personal preoccupation and rejected the condonation request, treating the delay as unexplained. The High Court held that the circumstances—the death of the engaged Advocate and the time required to engage a new Advocate—constituted a sufficient explanation for the delay. The Court observed that it is not uncommon for a petitioner to require time to appoint another Advocate and collect necessary documents when the originally engaged Advocate dies.
