Manoj Kumar Vs State of Uttar Pradesh (Allahabad High Court)
In the case of Manoj Kumar Vs State of Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court dealt with a batch of writ petitions challenging appellate orders under the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, where appeals filed by the petitioners had been dismissed solely on the ground of delay and laches without examination on merits.
The State raised a preliminary objection regarding maintainability, arguing that the petitioners had an alternative statutory remedy under Sections 112 and 113 of the GST Act before the Appellate Tribunal, which possessed wide powers to confirm, modify, annul, or remand matters. Reliance was placed on several Supreme Court decisions concerning the rule of alternative remedy.
The petitioners opposed the objection by relying on earlier Division Bench decisions of the Allahabad High Court, particularly in Bombino Agro Industries Limited, Associate Molasses Transport Company, and A.S. Engineering. It was argued that the issue was already settled and that judicial propriety required adherence to those precedents.
The Court examined the earlier Division Bench ruling in Bombino Agro Industries Limited, which had discussed the concept of “communication” of notices and orders under Section 169 of the GST Act. The Division Bench had observed that while electronic service through the GST portal or e-mail was legally permissible, effective communication for the purpose of limitation under Section 107 depended upon actual or constructive communication of the contents of the order to the assessee.
