2023 (1) TMI 678 - HC - GST

Tax authorities cannot reject offline appeals due to online portal errors under relevant tax laws

The HC held that the taxing authorities cannot refuse to entertain an offline appeal due to the appeal not being reflected on the online portal caused by ... Maintainability of appeal - Requirement to furnish acknowledgement of online filing of the appeal - whether due to the mistake of the department or the technical glitch in software when an appeal of assessee is not reflected on the portal, whether the authorities can deny to entertain the appeal filed offline on technical grounds? HELD THAT:- This is a case where the Taxing Authorities of the State are contesting tooth and nail up till this Court preventing the assessee from consideration of his appeal offline though, prima facie, it is clear that the appeal filed by the assessee is not being reflected on the web-portal of the department. The department is trying to justify its stand that an appeal will lie against a summary order passed in DRC-07 under Rule 142(5) of the Rules and not against the original order, which was passed under Section 74 of the Act - Section 107 of the Act of 2017, which provides for appeal against the adjudication order, clearly states that any person aggrieved by any decision or order passed under the Act or the State Goods and Services Tax Act or the Union Territory Goods and Service Tax Act by an adjudicating authority may appeal to such Appellate Authority. The legislature has not put any embargo upon filing of an appeal before the Appellate Authority by a person aggrieved, against any order. There is absolute clarity by the legislature as to the notification which has to be published by the State Government in the official gazette. Once no such notification has been issued, it would be presumed that other mode of filing the appeal would be offline - this Court finds that the taxing authorities cannot stop any assessee from claiming his statutory right, as provided under this Act in the garb of technicality. The correspondence dated 30.06.2022 issued by the respondent No.2 is hereby set-aside. The Additional Commissioner, Grade-II (Appeals)-1, Commercial Tax, Kanpur, is hereby directed to consider the appeal of the assessee filed offline strictly in accordance with law within a period of one month from the date of presentation of a certified copy of this order before him - Petition allowed in part. Issues:Challenge to correspondence requiring online filing of appealAnalysis:The petitioner, a charitable trust constructing a hospital, sought relief to quash a correspondence demanding online appeal acknowledgment. The petitioner's appeal against a denied exemption was not accepted online due to a portal error. The department initiated recovery proceedings despite a rectification order. The petitioner's offline appeal against a summary order was also rejected, leading to this petition.The petitioner argued that the department's insistence on online filing contradicted Section 107 of the CGST Act, as no alternate filing method had been notified. Citing a similar Andhra Pradesh High Court case, the petitioner contended that until specified, manual filing should be allowed. The respondent claimed the summary order, not the original, should be appealed, and technical glitches were addressed in a circular.The court deliberated on whether technical issues or departmental errors could justify denying offline appeals. It emphasized the right to appeal any decision under the Act and rejected the respondent's limitation on appeals against summary orders. Rule 108 allowed electronic or notified appeal filing, with no alternate method notified in Uttar Pradesh. The court noted the absence of a notification for alternative filing methods, supporting offline appeals as per the Andhra Pradesh High Court's interpretation.The court ruled in favor of the petitioner, setting aside the correspondence and directing the authority to consider the offline appeal within a month. It concluded that technicalities should not impede statutory rights, allowing the petitioner's offline appeal to proceed in accordance with the law. The writ petition was partly allowed, ensuring the petitioner's appeal consideration offline.