Ravi Kunchepu Vs State Tax Officer (FAC) (Telangana High Court)
The Telangana High Court considered a writ petition challenging a show cause notice dated 28.12.2023 and an order dated 30.12.2023 passed under Section 73 of the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the tax period July 2017 to March 2018. The writ petition was filed on 30.03.2026. The petitioner contended that he became aware of the impugned order only on 23.03.2026 after receiving a phone call from the office of the respondent regarding the demand. He further submitted that the order had merely been uploaded in the additional notices tab of the GSTIN portal and, therefore, had not come to his notice. The respondents opposed the writ petition on the ground of substantial delay, relying upon the Supreme Court’s decision in Assistant Commissioner (CT) LTU, Kakinada v. Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Health Care Limited. During the hearing, the petitioner sought liberty to file a statutory appeal along with a delay condonation application under Sections 107(1) and 107(4) of the Act. The High Court declined to examine the merits of the dispute and granted the petitioner liberty to approach the appellate authority within two weeks by filing an appeal, a delay condonation application, and the statutory pre-deposit. The Court observed that the petitioner would be free to raise all factual and legal grounds before the appellate authority, which should consider the delay condonation application and, if satisfied with the reasons explained, decide the appeal on merits. The writ petition was accordingly disposed of without any order as to costs.
