Tax Appeal Dismissed: Pandemic Extension Denied Due to Failure to Comply with Statutory Limitation Periods Under Procedural Rules

HC dismissed writ petition challenging tax assessment appeal rejection. Despite pandemic-related limitation extension, appellant filed appeal beyond prescribed deadline. Court held alternate remedies existed and extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 should not be invoked when statutory timelines were not diligently followed. Appeal was rejected on procedural grounds related to delay.

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Issues involved: Appeal against appellate order rejecting appeal on the ground of delay.

Summary:
The High Court of Patna heard a writ petition challenging an appellate order dated 17.10.2022, Annexure-4, which dismissed the appeal due to delay. The appeal was against an assessment order dated 12.03.2022 under Section 107 of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The Appellate Authority considered the provision allowing appeals to be filed within three months, with a further one-month period for delay condonation with satisfactory reasons. The court noted the Supreme Court's decision in a writ petition regarding the extension of limitation due to the pandemic, allowing appeals to be filed within ninety days from 01.03.2022. Despite this extension, the petitioner filed the appeal on 08.08.2022, two months and nineteen days after the extended deadline. The court held that extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 should not be invoked when alternate remedies are available, and the petitioner did not diligently avail such remedies within the specified time. Consequently, the writ petition was dismissed.

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