Vidya Trading Co. & Anr. Vs Senior Joint Commissioner of State Tax Kolkata North Circle (Calcutta High Court)
The writ petition before the Calcutta High Court challenges an appellate order dated March 12, 2025 passed under Section 107 of the West Bengal GST Act, 2017 and the CGST Act, 2017, which dismissed the petitioners’ appeal against an assessment order dated December 27, 2023 issued under Section 73 of the Acts. The petitioners contended that the very initiation of adjudication proceedings was barred by limitation because it relied on Notification No. 9/2023–Central Tax dated March 31, 2023 and Notification No. 599-F.T. dated April 12, 2023, issued under Section 168A. According to the petitioners, Section 168A can be invoked only in a force majeure situation, and since no such circumstance existed, the notifications were issued without jurisdiction and were ultra vires the statute.
It was further argued that although the impugned appellate order is ordinarily appealable before the GST Appellate Tribunal under Section 112, the Tribunal had not become functional, leaving the petitioners without an effective statutory remedy. The Court therefore entertained the writ petition. The petitioners also submitted that despite a Government notification dated September 17, 2025 extending the time to file an appeal before the Tribunal until June 30, 2026, the GST authorities had already recovered the entire tax amount confirmed by the assessment and appellate orders.
