Patna High Court Grants GST Appeal Amnesty benefit beyond Cut-off Date

Nexus Motors Private Limited A Private Limited Vs. State of Bihar (Patna High Court)

The Patna High Court, in the case of Nexus Motors Private Limited vs. State of Bihar, has ruled in favor of granting the benefit of GST amnesty beyond the specified cut-off date mentioned in Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax. The court set aside an order dismissing an appeal due to a delay of five days.

High Court held that Benefit of amnesty provided under Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax would be available in case of appeal filed against order passed at least three months prior to date of issuance i.e., 2-11-2023; fixing cut-off date of 31-3-2023 by notification was not proper

Appeal to Appellate Authority – Limitation – Benefit of amnesty scheme – Appeal was dismissed by Appellate Authority on ground of delay in filing – Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax dated 2-11-2023 laid down conditions for orders passed before 31-3-2023, condoning delay in filing appeal within prescribed period – Department contended that petitioner was not covered under this notification – HELD: Notification dated 2-11-2023 only permits appeals to be filed from orders passed by proper officer on or before 31-3-2023 – There was no rationale for fixing such date as a cut-off date since notification was brought out on 2-11-2023 – Any order passed at least three months prior to date of issuance of notification ought to be considered for such beneficial treatment – Impugned order was to be set aside – Appellate authority was directed to consider appeal subject to fulfilment of criteria by petitioner as stated in said notification [Section 107 of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017/Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017] [Paras 3, 4, 5 and 6] [In favour of assessee]

Circulars & Notifications: Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax dated 2-11-2023.

Conclusion: The Patna High Court’s decision provides relief to taxpayers by extending the benefit of the GST amnesty scheme even beyond the initially specified cut-off date. The judgment emphasizes the need for a more flexible approach in such cases, considering the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the notification.

FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF PATNA HIGH COURT

The petitioner is before this Court challenging an order in appeal, which rejected the appeal for reason of delay of five days.

2. Section 107(4) of the B.G.S.T. Act clearly stipulates a period of three months time for an appeal to be filed and a further period of one month within which a delayed appeal has to be filed. Going by the statutory provisions, there is absolutely no power vested either in the Appellate Authority or in a Constitutional Court acting under Article 226 to extend the period of limitation, especially when there is a specific stipulation and period prescribed for the purpose of filing a delayed appeal.

3. However, we see that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has brought out a notification dated 02.11.2023 bearing no. 53 of 2023- Central Tax hereunder:

MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Revenue)
(CENTRAL BOARD OF INDIRECT TAXES AND CUSTOMS)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 2nd November, 2023
No. 53/2023- CENTRAL TAX

S.O. 4767(E).-In exercise of the powers conferred by section 148 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (12 of 2017) (hereinafter referred to as the said Act), the Central Government, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby notifies taxable persons who could not file an appeal against the order passed by the proper officer on or before the 31^st day of March, 2023 under section 73 or 74 of the said Act (hereinafter referred to as the said order), within the time period specified in sub­section (1) of section 107 read with sub-section (4) of section 107 of the said Act, and the taxable persons whose appeal against the said order was rejected solely on the grounds that the said appeal was not filed within the time period specified in section 107, as the class of persons (hereinafter referred to as the said person) who shall follow the following special procedure for filing appeals in such cases:

2. The said person shall file an appeal against the said order in FORM GST APL-01 in accordance with sub-ection (1) of Section 107 of the said Act, on or before 31^st day of January 2024:

Provided that an appeal against the said order filed in accordance with the provisions of section 107 of the Act, and pending before the Appellate Authority before the issuance of this notification, shall be deemed to have been filed in accordance with this notification, if it fulfills the condition specified at para 3 below.

3. No appeal shall be filed under this notification, unless the appellant has paid-

(a) in full, such part of the amount of tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty arising from the impugned order, as is admitted by him; and

(b) a sum equal to twelve and a half per cent. of the remaining amount of tax in dispute arising from the said order, subject to a maximum of twenty-five crore rupees, in relation to which the appeal has been filed, out of which at least twenty percent should have been paid by debiting from the Electronic Cash Ledger.

4. No refund shall be granted on account of this notification till the disposal of the appeal, in respect of any amount paid by the appellant, either on their own or on the directions of any authority (or) court, in excess of the amount specified in para 3 of this notification before the issuance of this notification, for filing an appeal under sub­section (1) of Section 107 of the said Act.

5. No appeal under this notification shall be admissible in respect of a demand not involving tax.

6. The provisions of Chapter XIII of the Central Goods and Service Tax Rules, 2017 (12 of 2017), shall mutatis mutandis, apply to an appeal filed under this notification.

[F. No. CBIC-20001/10/2023-GST]
RAGHAVENDRA PAL SINGH, Director

4. The difficulty insofar as its application to the petitioner’s case is the date on which the proper officer, being the Assessing Officer, having passed the order which was challenged in appeal, on 27.04.2023. The notification which was brought out on 02.11.2023 only permits appeals to be filed from orders passed by the proper officer on or before 31.03.2023, in cases in which it was not instituted in time or within the time permitted for a delayed appeal, and in cases where such delayed appeals beyond the stipulation in 107(4) has been rejected. The petitioner would not squarely fall under the notification.

5. We do not see any rationale for the date fixed of 31.03.2023, as a cut off date. We notice that the notification itself was brought out on 02.11.2023 and in such circumstances any order passed in at least three months before that date; the time provided for filing an appeal, ought to have been considered for such beneficial treatment.

6. In the above circumstances, we are of the opinion that the petitioner also can be allowed to comply with the conditions in Notification No. 53 of 2023 upon which the order passed in appeal would stand set aside and a fresh consideration will be made by the first Appellate Authority. It is made clear that the petitioner has to fulfill all the criteria as stated in the notification.

7. We allow the writ petition with the above directions.