Keva Fragrances Pvt. Ltd. & Anr Vs State of Gujarat & Ors (Gujarat High Court)
The Gujarat High Court heard a petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution challenging the order dated 12.06.2025 passed by the Deputy Commissioner of State Tax Appeal-8, Surat, which had rejected the petitioners’ appeal under Section 107 of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (GST Act) on the ground of limitation. The petitioners had received a show cause notice dated 26.12.2023 regarding certain GST demands. Subsequently, the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, Ghatak-73, Vapi, issued an order in Form GST DRC-07 on 15.04.2024. The petitioners filed a rectification application under Section 161 of the GST Act on 24.04.2024, which was disposed of by an order dated 01.08.2024.
The petitioners contended that the 01.08.2024 order was not uploaded on the GST portal, and they first received the order via email on 13.11.2024. Accordingly, they filed an appeal before the first appellate authority on 08.01.2025. The appellate authority, however, treated the date of communication as 01.08.2024 and rejected the appeal as time-barred under Section 107(4) of the GST Act. The petitioners argued that the appeal was within the limitation period because the order was effectively communicated only on 13.11.2024 and submitted portal screenshots to support this.
