Condonation of delay under Section 107(4) J&K SGST/CGST Act: 15day delay condoned and appeal remitted for merits.

Condonation of delay under Section 107(4) of the J&K SGST/CGST regime permits the Appellate Authority to allow an appeal within an additional onemonth period if the appellant shows sufficient cause for missing the three or sixmonth limitation; where the applicant's excuse was credible and delay was only 15 days, a hypertechnical rejection was improper. The tribunal's computation of the limitation cut short the statutory extended period and was set aside. The delay is condoned and the matter is remitted to the appellate authority for adjudication on the merits.

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Issues: Whether the delay of 15 days in filing the appeal against order dated 17.01.2025, after excluding the period spent by the petitioner in writ proceedings, is liable to be condoned under Section 107(4) of the J&K SGST/CGST Act and whether the appellate authority's order dismissing the appeal as time-barred should be set aside and the matter remitted for adjudication on merits.

Analysis: The limitation period originally expired on 16.04.2025 but, on exclusion of 26 days spent pursuing a writ petition before this Court, the last date for filing the appeal extended to 12.05.2025. The appeal was filed on 28.05.2025, resulting in a 15-day delay. Section 107(4) permits the Appellate Authority to condone delay and allow an appeal to be presented within a further period of one month if satisfied that the appellant was prevented from presenting the appeal within the prescribed period. The reasons advanced by the petitioner for the short delay were neither imaginary nor fanciful, and the appellate authority's reliance on an earlier date (07.05.2025) to deny condonation improperly curtailed the statutory extended window available under Section 107(4). Given the marginal nature of the delay and the explanation furnished, dismissing the appeal on a hyper-technical basis was contrary to the statutory provision permitting condonation.

Conclusion: The delay of 15 days in filing the appeal is condoned under Section 107(4) of the Act; the order dismissing the appeal as time-barred is set aside and the matter is remitted to the Appellate Authority for adjudication of the appeal on merits in accordance with law.

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