Manna Enterprises Vs Superintendent of Central Tax (Telangana High Court)
Telangana High Court Permits Delayed GST Appeal Despite Unsigned DRC-07 M/s. Manna Enterprises v. Superintendent of Central Tax & Others
The Telangana High Court in M/s. Manna Enterprises v. Superintendent of Central Tax dealt with an increasingly recurring GST litigation issue — whether an assessee can effectively pursue an appeal when the Summary Order in Form GST DRC-07 allegedly lacks a digital signature.
While the Court did not adjudicate the legality of the unsigned DRC-07, it adopted a pragmatic approach by permitting the assessee to file a delayed statutory appeal and directing the appellate authority to sympathetically consider the delay.
Background of the Case
The petitioner, Manna Enterprises, challenged:
- the Order-in-Original dated 27.04.2024, passed under Section 74 of the CGST/SGST Act, and
- the accompanying Summary Order in Form GST DRC-07 dated 03.05.2024,
relating to the tax period 2018-19.
The writ petition was filed before the Telangana High Court seeking interference with the adjudication proceedings.
Petitioner’s Main Contention
The principal argument advanced by the petitioner was that:
the Summary Order in Form GST DRC-07 did not contain a digital signature.
According to the petitioner:
- absence of a digital signature rendered the order procedurally defective,
- and prevented the petitioner from effectively filing a statutory appeal.
The issue of unsigned GST orders and notices has increasingly become a subject matter of litigation across several High Courts, particularly where:
- portal-generated documents,
- DRC summaries,
- notices, and
- adjudication orders
are uploaded without proper authentication.
