GST appeal limitation depends on actual portal access; electronic filing faults cannot bar a statutory remedy.

A real and effective statutory appeal under Section 107 of the Uttar Pradesh GST Act cannot be treated as available when electronic filing is obstructed by GSTN portal malfunction. Where the appellant was prevented from filing the appeal because of continued technical errors, limitation could not fairly run from the date of the cancellation order and had to be assessed from the date the portal difficulty was resolved. The rejection of the appeal as time-barred was therefore unsustainable, and the matter was remitted to the appellate authority for decision on merits.

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Issues: Whether the appeal filed against cancellation of GST registration was time-barred when the appellant was prevented from filing it electronically because of malfunctioning of the GSTN portal, and whether the limitation period had to be computed from the date when the portal difficulty was resolved.

Analysis: The remedy of appeal under Section 107 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is a real and effective statutory remedy, and access to it cannot be treated as available when the prescribed electronic filing mode itself remains obstructed due to technical faults attributable to the portal. The record showed that the appellant was unable to institute the appeal because of continued GSTN errors, and that the difficulty was resolved only on 17.09.2021. In these circumstances, the period for filing the appeal could not fairly be treated as running from the earlier communication of the cancellation order. The appeal had to be regarded as maintainable from the date the forum became actually available to the appellant through the functioning portal.

Conclusion: The appeal was not time-barred, the rejection of the appeal as barred by limitation was unsustainable, and the writ petition succeeded with remand of the matter to the appellate authority for decision on merits.

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