Kottukapillil Geogy George Vs State Tax Officer (Kerala High Court)
In the case Kottukapillil Geogy George Vs State Tax Officer, the Kerala High Court addressed whether a taxpayer could be held accountable for procedural lapses by the appellate authority. The petitioner faced issues after filing an appeal against a GST assessment order for the year 2018-2019. Initially, the petitioner failed to appeal within the stipulated timeframe. However, a later notification from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) allowed taxpayers to file appeals by January 31, 2024, subject to specific conditions. The petitioner filed the appeal on January 25, 2024, but overlooked a requirement to debit a portion of the disputed tax from their electronic cash ledger.
The appellate authority initially accepted the appeal without noting the defect. Nearly 398 days later, it flagged the issue, leading the petitioner to rectify the mistake promptly. Despite compliance, the authority dismissed the appeal as time-barred. The petitioner challenged this decision, arguing that the defect could have been addressed sooner if the appellate authority had identified it at the time of filing.
The court found merit in the petitioner’s argument, emphasizing that procedural lapses on the part of the appellate authority should not prejudice the taxpayer. It observed that the notification’s purpose was to provide relief to taxpayers, and rejecting the appeal on hyper-technical grounds undermined this intent. The court noted that had the defect been communicated earlier, the petitioner would have rectified it within the allowable timeframe.
