Proper officer assignment under GST makes a cancellation order appealable to the Commissioner.

Where the Commissioner validly assigns the function of proper officer to an Assistant Commissioner under the State GST Act, an order passed by that officer is treated as an order of an adjudicating authority. Because the assignment order was unchallenged, the cancellation of GST registration was appealable under the statutory appellate provision, and the appeal lay to the Commissioner. The earlier contrary view was reviewed and modified to reflect that forum of appeal.

---

---

Issues: Whether an order cancelling GST registration passed by the Assistant Commissioner, who was assigned the function of proper officer, was appealable before the Commissioner under the State GST Act, and whether the earlier view that no such appeal would lie required review.

Analysis: The statutory scheme was examined by reading the provisions defining "proper officer" and "adjudicating authority" together with the provisions governing cancellation of registration and appeals. The assignment order dated 30.06.2017 had conferred the function of proper officer on the Assistant Commissioner under the State GST Act. On that basis, the Assistant Commissioner who passed the cancellation order was treated as an adjudicating authority within the meaning of the Act, while the Commissioner stood excluded from that definition. Since Section 107 provides an appeal against an order passed by an adjudicating authority and the assignment order was not challenged, the appeal against the Assistant Commissioner's order was held to lie before the Commissioner.

Conclusion: The earlier judgment was reviewed and modified, and it was held that an appeal against the cancellation order passed by the Assistant Commissioner would lie before the Commissioner.

Final Conclusion: The review succeeded to the extent that the forum of appeal was clarified in favour of the revenue's position, while the matter remained otherwise concluded by the later unchallenged writ order.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the Commissioner has validly assigned the function of proper officer to an Assistant Commissioner under the State GST Act, an order passed by that Assistant Commissioner is an appealable order of an adjudicating authority, and the statutory appeal lies to the Commissioner under the appellate provision.

---