Manual filing of appeal cannot defeat appellate scrutiny where the rules permit filing electronically or otherwise.

Where the governing appeal provision allowed filing electronically or otherwise, a manually filed appeal could not be rejected on a merely technical objection. The Court noted that a co-ordinate Bench had already treated such rejection as unsustainable and required consideration on merits, and held that manual presentation did not justify denial of appellate scrutiny. The rejection of the appeal as not maintainable on the ground of manual filing was therefore set aside, and the appeal had to be dealt with on merits.

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Issues: Whether an appeal under the Haryana Goods and Service Tax Rules, 2017 could be rejected as not maintainable merely because it was filed manually instead of electronically.

Analysis: The Rule governing filing of appeals contemplated filing "electronically or otherwise", and the Court noted that the provision had been amended subsequently. A co-ordinate Bench had already treated rejection on this purely technical ground as unsustainable and had directed consideration of the appeal on merits. In that backdrop, the manual presentation of the appeal could not justify denial of appellate scrutiny.

Conclusion: The rejection of the appeal as not maintainable on the ground of manual filing was unsustainable and was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the governing appeal provision permits filing electronically or otherwise, a manually filed appeal cannot be dismissed on a merely technical objection and must be considered on merits.

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