Kasturi & Sons Pvt. Ltd. Vs Additional Commissioner of GST & Central Excise (Appeals-1) (Madras High Court)
Summary: The Madras High Court, in Kasturi & Sons Pvt. Ltd. vs Additional Commissioner of GST & Central Excise (Appeals-1) [W.P. No. 18642 of 2024], clarified that the date of online filing of a GST appeal is to be treated as the date of filing for limitation purposes. The petitioner, Kasturi & Sons Pvt. Ltd., filed an appeal online within the prescribed period after their refund application under Section 54 of the CGST Act was rejected. However, due to the delayed submission of the hard copy, the appeal was dismissed. The petitioner contested the rejection, citing compliance with Rule 108(3) of the CGST Rules, which specifies that online submission suffices when the order appealed against is uploaded on the GST portal. The court emphasized that Rule 108(3) explicitly considers the provisional acknowledgment date as the filing date if the order is available on the common portal. It further noted that requiring a hard copy is merely procedural. Consequently, the court set aside the appellate authority’s order rejecting the appeal and directed them to consider the appeal on its merits. This judgment reinforces that online filing under GST laws is valid for determining compliance with time limits, provided the necessary conditions under Rule 108(3) are met. It underscores the importance of distinguishing between substantive and procedural requirements in GST appeal processes.
