Case Law Details
Ishika Packaging Private Limited & Anr. Vs State of West Bengal & Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
The writ petition before the Calcutta High Court challenged an order dated 18 November 2025 passed by the Appellate Authority under Section 107 of the WBGST Act, 2017/CGST Act, 2017, by which the petitioners’ statutory appeal was dismissed solely on the ground of delay. The appeal arose from an adjudication order dated 24 April 2024 passed under Section 73 of the Act. The petitioners contended that they were prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal within the prescribed limitation period.
It was argued that the petitioners missed knowledge of the adjudication order because it was uploaded on the GST portal under the “Additional Notices and Orders” tab rather than the “View Orders” tab. It was further submitted that certain emails were inadvertently deleted by an employee, and therefore, even if communications were sent by email, the petitioners were unable to access them. According to the petitioners, they became aware of the adjudication order only when recovery proceedings were initiated.
The State GST Authority opposed the petition, submitting that the petitioners had due notice of earlier communications and could not rely on the manner of portal uploading as a valid explanation for delay. It was also pointed out that the GST portal had been upgraded in 2024, enabling users to view orders even when uploaded under the “Additional Notices and Orders” tab.
Upon hearing both sides and examining the record, the Court noted that the Appellate Authority had already found the reasons cited by the petitioners insufficient and had therefore declined to condone the delay. The Court observed that, given the petitioners’ apparent knowledge of earlier notices, the explanation regarding missing the adjudication order due to its placement on the portal was not fully satisfactory.
However, the Court also noted that refusing to allow the appeal to be heard on merits would result in the petitioners losing an important statutory forum. In order to balance equities, the Court held that the petitioners should be given an opportunity to pursue their appeal, subject to appropriate conditions.
Accordingly, the Court directed that if the petitioners deposit a sum of ₹20,000 with the State Legal Services Authority, West Bengal within two weeks and furnish proof of such payment to the Appellate Authority, the Appellate Authority shall proceed to hear and decide the appeal on merits. In that event, the impugned order dated 18 November 2025 would stand set aside and treated as having no effect. The Court clarified that failure to make the payment within the stipulated time would disentitle the petitioners from the benefit of this order. The writ petition was disposed of on these terms, with no further directions on costs.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF CALCUTTA HIGH COURT
1. Affidavit of service filed on behalf of the petitioners be kept with the record.
2. This writ petition lays challenge to an order dated November 18, 2025 passed by the Appellate Authority under Section 107 of the WBGST ACT, 2017/CGST Act, 2017 (in short „the said Act of 2017‟) whereby the petitioners‟ appeal against an order dated April 24, 2024 passed under Section 73 of the said Act of 2017 has been dismissed on the ground of delay.
3. Ray, learned Advocate appearing on behalf of the petitioners has taken this Court through the reasons for delay delineated in the appeal filed by the petitioners before the Appellate Authority (at page 90 of the writ petition) and the reasons mentioned by the petitioners for having occasioned such delay in response to the notice to show cause for the delay issued by the Appellate Authority (at page 112 of the writ petition) and has submitted that the petitioners were prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal within the stipulated period. It has been submitted that the petitioners missed notice of the adjudication order as the same was uploaded on the GST Portal under the “Additional Notices and Orders” Tab and not under the “View Orders” tab of the said Portal.
4. It is further submitted by Mr. Ray that an employee of the petitioners inadvertently deleted certain mails from the mail box and even if the notices and orders had been served upon by the petitioners by e-mail, the petitioners could not have seen the same.
5. It is further submitted that the petitioners became aware of the adjudication order only upon receiving intimation as regards recovery proceedings.
6. Chakraborty, learned Advocate appearing for the respondent State GST Authority submits that the petitioners had due notice of all the earlier communications and as such uploading of the adjudication order under the “Additional Notices and Orders” tab on the GST Portal cannot be cited as a valid ground to seek condonation of delay by the petitioners. It is further submitted that in the year 2024, the portal was upgraded and rectified such that even upon the orders being uploaded under the “Additional Notices and Orders” tab, the same could be viewed on visiting the portal.
7. Heard learned Advocates appearing for the respective parties and perused the material-on-record.
8. The Appellate Authority has not found the reasons proferred by the petitioners to be sufficient and has therefore refused to condone the delay occasioned by the petitioners.
9. Since in the case at hand the petitioners appear to have knowledge of the notices served earlier, the explanation of the petitioners that they missed the adjudication order by reason of the same being uploaded on the “Additional Notices and Orders” Tab is not fully satisfactory.
10. However, if the petitioners are not permitted to press their appeal before the Appellate Authority on merits, the petitioners would be losing an important forum. In such view of the matter, this Court is of the view that in order to balance the equities, the petitioners should be permitted to prefer appeal before the Appellate Authority upon putting the petitioners to terms.
11. Accordingly, it is directed that if the petitioners pay a sum of Rs.20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand Only) to the State Legal Services Authority, West Bengal within a period of two weeks from date and furnish proof thereof to the Appellate Authority, the Appellate Authority shall proceed to hear the petitioners‟ appeal on merit. In such event, the order impugned dated November 18, 2025 shall be of no effect and shall be treated as having been set aside.
12. It is clarified that if the petitioners fail to make payment of the aforesaid sum in terms of this order, this order shall not enure to the benefit of the petitioners.
13. WPA 26952 of 2025 stands disposed of.
14. Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties subject to compliance with all requisite formalities.
Author Bio
