Madras High Court: Appeal Cannot Be Dismissed For Procedural Delay If Statutory Compliance, Including Pre-Deposit, Is Met

Madras High Court: Appeal Cannot Be Dismissed For Procedural Delay If Statutory Compliance, Including Pre-Deposit, Is Met

The Madras High Court ruled that an appeal cannot be dismissed solely due to procedural delay if the assessee has complied with statutory requirements, including the pre-deposit of tax liability.

Justice Vivek Kumar Singh emphasized that procedural delays should not be the basis for dismissal, particularly when the petitioner has taken steps to fulfill legal obligations, including making a 10% pre-deposit of the tax liability along with additional payments toward the disputed tax amount.

In this case, the assessee's consultant was unaware of the proceedings initiated by the State Tax Officer because the notice was uploaded in the additional notices’ column of the common portal. As a result, the assessee failed to submit a timely response and only became aware of the order on November 16, 2024, when its bank account was attached under recovery proceedings per Section 79 of the GST Act, 2017.

Subsequently, the assessee filed an appeal on November 20, 2024, along with a petition for condonation of a 35-day delay. A pre-deposit under Section 107(6) of the Act was also made, amounting to 10% of the tax liability. However, the Deputy Commissioner (ST) GST Appeals rejected the appeal, citing that it was filed beyond the condonable period of limitation by five days.

The department argued that the rejection was justified since the appeal was delayed by 35 days and exceeded the condonable limit by five days. However, the court noted that, given the circumstances and the assessee’s efforts to discharge a significant portion of the disputed tax liability, the delay could be condoned in the interest of justice.

Consequently, the court quashed the rejection order and remanded the matter back to the department for fresh consideration.