TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
A stitch in time saves nine is an age-old English proverb meaning that dealing with a problem immediately prevents it from worsening and requiring significantly more effort, time or money to fix it later. As I was updating myself with the latest judicial pronouncements by High Courts and the Supreme Court yesterday, I came across the story of one taxpayer situated at Sonipat in the state of Haryana wherein the defect has almost become uncurable, as almost all doors have already been closed only due to the mistake on the part of the taxpayer in not preferring the first appeal under section 107 or the writ before the High Court of Punjab & Haryana within a reasonable time.
Part one of the story: The taxpayer was issued with ASMT 10 on 27/01/2023. As no reply was filed by the taxpayer SCN under section 74 was issued on 09/08/2023 in DRC 01. The dispute pertains to the period October 2017 till April 2018. The time limit available under section 73 for issuance of SCN was till 30/09/2023 and the SCN was not issued based on audit or inspection wherein the suppression or misstatement or fraud were established but only based on the differences in GST Returns. Section 75 (4) would have helped the taxpayer, as the OIO was passed on 07/11/2023 without the opportunity of personal hearing in a hurried manner as the last date for passing order under section 74 for the year 2017-18 was only 05/02/2025. There is absolutely no dispute from both the sides that the ASMT 10 as well as SCN and OIO were only uploaded in the portal and the taxpayer failed to notice all the three during the year 2023. Under the above circumstances, a writ was preferred by the taxpayer before the jurisdictional high court of Punjab and Haryana during November 2025. The high court on 28/01/2026 dismissed the writ due to delays and laches in CWP 35491 of 2025 (O&M) in the matter of M/s. Kamal Ideal Infratech Private Limited Versus Union of India and another - 2026 (1) TMI 1641 - PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT.
Part two of the story: Aggrieved by the above high court order, the taxpayer preferred a SLP in the Supreme Court. The delay was condoned. The SLP was examined and the Supreme Court passed the order on 16/06/2026 in SLP (Civil) 28802 of 2026 [M/s. Kamal Ideal Infratech Private Limited Versus Union Of India & Ors. - 2026 (6) TMI 1002 - SC Order] and dismissed the SLP by stating that there was no reasons to interfere with the order dated 28/01/2026 as the taxpayer has not acted promptly, even after noticing the OIO during 2024 and slept over that issue till November 2025.
Part three: The operative portion of the high court order is really a lesson for all taxpayers all over India which is free of cost as all the required expenses were already spent by the taxpayer by not acting promptly on GST notices. The High Court order reads as '13. It has been held by Hon'ble the Supreme Court in THE CHAIRMAN, STATE BANK OF INDIA AND ANOTHER Versus M.J. JAMES- 2021 (11) TMI 1078 - Supreme Court as under:' What is a reasonable time is not to be put in a straitjacket formula or judicially codified in the form of days, etc. as it depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case. A right not exercised for a long time is nonexistent. Doctrine of delay and laches as well as acquiescence are applied to non-suit the litigants who approach the court /appellate authorities belatedly without any justifiable explanation for bringing action after unreasonable delay. In the present case, challenge to the order of dismissal from service by way of appeal was after four years and five months, which is certainly highly belated and beyond justifiable time. Without satisfactory explanation justifying the delay, it is difficult to hold that the appeal was preferred within a reasonable time.' In a similar manner, the order dated 16/06/2026 reads as '3. We have considered the show cause notice dated 08.09.2023 and the assessment order dated 07.11.2023 passed by the Officer concerned. It is patently clear from the order impugned that the factual matrix giving rise to the show cause notice has been elaborately discussed. It was open to the petitioner to assail the assessment order by way of an appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act. He contends that he was unaware of the order which had been uploaded on the electronic portal. No convincing reason to overlook the electronic communication is offered. That apart, petitioner by his own admission was made aware of the proceedings much earlier in 2024 and thereafter approached the High Court belatedly in 2025. The High Court had rightly declined to entertain the Writ Petition as a surrogate to appellate proceedings which the petitioner had not availed and had become time barred. Present case stands on a different factual matter from GR Infra Projects Ltd.(supra) where the show cause notice under Section 74 of the CGST Act had been challenged on the ground primary facts disclosing suppression had not been stated. In view of these facts, we are not inclined to entertain the Special Leave Petition.'
Key take aways: As GST law in India has already completed nine full years on 30/06/2026 and also as GSTAT is operational today accepting the second appeal in large numbers the window of which for legacy cases is open till 31/07/2026, taxpayers may at least board now as this is the last bus. There are no reasons or justifications for any further extensions at this stage.
The second take away is that all appeals filed before 31/07/2026 for legacy cases are safe as GSTAT is a highly specialized forum and the orders being passed by the benches all over India through the principal as well as state benches are going to be unbiased as the President is a retired High Court Chief Justice and none of the members are on the rolls of CBIC. Looking from the perspective of the members of the GSTAT, any delay beyond 31/07/2026 requires the taxpayer to prove as to how the taxpayer was prevented from filing the second appeal in time with proper reasons as well as justifications. The powers of the GSTAT on condonation of delay by members of GSTAT up to three months is not a birth right of the taxpayer, at least for legacy cases as the GSTAT portal has started accepting appeals from December 2025 onwards.
Citations: 2026 (1) TMI 1641 - PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT
Supreme Court: 2026 (6) TMI 1002 - SC Order