Court Orders Appellate Authority to Consider Physical Appeal Filing Date Amid Digital Signature Issues in Online Appeal.

The HC addressed a case where a company-assessee's online appeal was not accepted due to digital signature issues, and a subsequent physical appeal was deemed invalid. The court acknowledged technical issues and directed the appellate authority to consider the manual appeal's filing date for assessing any delay in the online appeal, disposing of the writ petition without costs.

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Issues:
1. Appeal filed online not accepted due to digital signature issues.
2. Appeal filed physically treated as invalid by the authority.
3. Apprehension that online appeal may be rejected for delay.
4. Request for direction to consider filing date of manual appeal for online appeal delay calculation.

Analysis:
The judgment deals with a case where a company-assessee attempted to file an appeal online against an assessment order but faced issues with digital signature, leading to the online appeal not being accepted. Subsequently, a physical appeal was filed, which was deemed invalid by the authority. The authority held the paper appeal as invalid ab initio, stating it was not compliant with statutory provisions and treated it as dismissed for statistical purposes. The court noted that the manual appeal was not heard on merits, and thus, the order was not interfered with. The judgment highlighted that the technical issues causing the problem were beyond human control. The court acknowledged the apprehension that the online appeal might be rejected for delay, as delay can be a valid ground for appeal rejection. Consequently, the court directed the appellate authority to consider the filing date of the manual appeal to assess any delay in the online appeal, ultimately disposing of the writ petition without costs.

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