Manual filing of GST appeal cannot by itself defeat maintainability where the rule allows electronic or other notified filing.

Rule 108 of the Haryana GST Rules permits an appeal to be filed electronically or otherwise as notified, so an appeal could not be rejected as not maintainable merely because it was filed manually. The High Court treated the offline filing objection as unduly technical, noted that a coordinate Bench had already required consideration on merits, and held that the appellate order rejecting the appeal on that ground was liable to be set aside.

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Issues: Whether an appeal under the Haryana Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 could be rejected as not maintainable merely because it was filed manually instead of electronically, and whether the appellate order rejecting the appeal on that technical ground was liable to be quashed.

Analysis: Rule 108 of the Haryana Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 permits filing of an appeal electronically or otherwise, as may be notified by the Commissioner. The challenge was to a rejection based solely on offline filing. The Court noted that a coordinate Bench had already treated such rejection as unduly technical and had directed consideration of the appeal on merits. In view of the language of the Rule and the prior judicial approach, the manual mode of filing could not by itself defeat the appeal.

Conclusion: The appeal could not be dismissed as not maintainable merely because it was filed manually, and the appellate order was liable to be set aside.

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