National Fertilizers Limited Vs Principal Commissioner (Allahabad High Court)
High Court has intervened in a Goods and Services Tax (GST) matter involving National Fertilizers Limited, setting aside an order from the Commissioner (Appeals) that had dismissed the company’s appeal over a pre-deposit issue. The High Court, in its judgment on February 6, 2025, noted a procedural error by the appellate authority and has directed a fresh hearing specifically to determine whether a mandatory pre-deposit made from the Electronic Credit Ledger (ECRL) is valid under GST law.
The petition before the High Court challenged an order dated October 28, 2024, passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) in an appeal filed by National Fertilizers Limited. The Commissioner (Appeals) had dismissed the company’s appeal (Appeal No. 212 of 2024) on the sole ground that the mandatory pre-deposit required under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017, had not been validly made.
Section 107 of the CGST Act provides the mechanism for filing appeals before the first appellate authority, the Commissioner (Appeals), against decisions or orders passed by GST officers. A key requirement under this section is the mandatory pre-deposit of a certain percentage of the disputed tax amount. Specifically, Section 107(6) mandates that no appeal shall be filed unless the appellant has paid full amount of tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty, as admitted by him and a sum equal to ten per cent. of the remaining amount of tax in dispute arising from the order, subject to a maximum of fifty crore rupees. This pre-deposit is a statutory prerequisite for the Commissioner (Appeals) to entertain the appeal.
