TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (9) TMI 1149
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....itioner, the impugned orders were passed levying tax, interest and penalty. Challenging the same, these writ petitions have been filed. 2.As against an order passed under Section 74 of the Act, the assessee has the remedy of appeal. But an appeal has to be filed within three months as per Section 107 of the Act. There is provision for condoning the delay of 30 days. If within this outer time limit, an appeal is not filed, the appellate authority would not be competent to entertain the appeal. The petitioner submits before this Court that the impugned orders were not served on them and that they were only uploaded in the GSTN Portal. Since the petitioner was in the dark, he missed the time line for filing the appeals. The petitioner wants this Court to entertain the challenge to the impugned orders in writ proceedings straightaway. The writ prayer appears to have been erroneously worded. The actual relief which the petitioner wants is probably a passport to move the appellate authority. 3.The stand of the respondents is that since the impugned orders had been uploaded in the portal, the clock would start ticking from the said date. The learned Additional Government Pleader too....
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...., notice or any communication shall be deemed to have been served on the date on which it is tendered or published or a copy thereof is affixed in the manner provided in sub-section (1). (3) When such decision, order, summons, notice or any communication is sent by registered post or speed post, it shall be deemed to have been received by the addressee at the expiry of the period normally taken by such post in transit unless the contrary is proved." "142. Notice and order for demand of amounts payable under the Act.- (1) The proper officer shall serve, along with the (a) notice issued under Section 52 or Section 73 or Section 74 or Section 76 or Section 122 or Section 123 or Section 124 or Section 125 or Section 127 or Section 129 or Section 130, a summary thereof electronically in FORM GST DRC-01, (b) statement under sub-section (3) of Section 73 or subsection (3) of Section 74, a summary thereof electronically in FORM GST DRC-02, specifying therein the details of the amount payable. [(1A) The [proper officer may], before service of notice to the person chargeable with tax, interest and penalty under sub-section (1) of Section 73 or sub....
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.... Section 127 or Section 129 or Section 130 shall be uploaded electronically in FORM GST DRC-07, specifying therein the amount of [tax, interest and penalty, as the case may be, payable by the person concerned]. (6) The order referred to in sub-rule (5) shall be treated as the notice for recovery. (7) Where a rectification of the order has been passed in accordance with the provisions of section 161 or where an order uploaded on the system has been withdrawn, a summary of the rectification order or of the withdrawal order shall be uploaded electronically by the proper officer in FORM GST DRC-08.] 6.It is necessary to have a rapid look at the precedents on the subject. Let me first catalogue the rulings relied on by the respondents. In Pandidorai Sethupathi Raja v. Superintendent of Central Tax, Nungambakkam Zone IV, Chennai Central Range, Chennai (2022 SCC OnLine Mad 8986), it was held by Dr.Justice Anita Sumanth that making an order available on the common portal would tantamount to "tendering" of that order to the recipient and that uploading of orders upon the common portal constitutes "proper mode of service". Another learned Judge (Mr.Justice Mohammed Shaff....
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....n, the notice may also be sent through speed post. 8.There is a cleavage of opinion among the Judges of the Madras High Court. But His Lordship Mr.Justice Mohammed Shaffiq declined to make a reference on the ground that the judgment of the Division Bench in A.Sanjeevi Naidu v. The Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Kanchipuram (1972 SCC OnLine Mad 347). In the said Division Bench judgment, it was held that when the Rule provides various modes of service of notices, they are only alternative and not cumulative. 9.Section 169 of the Act no doubt prescribes various modes of service. In other words, the department has a choice. The right to choose any one of the modes of service is itself a power. It is well settled that whenever administrative power is conferred by a statute, the presumption is that it will be exercised in a manner which is fair in all the circumstances. The standards of fairness is not immutable (1994) 1 AC 530 (R vs Secretary of State for the Home Department). This proposition was approved in NHAI vs Madhukar Kumar (2022) 14 SCC 661. In Techno Prints vs. Chhattishgarh Textbook Corporation (2025 INSC 236), it was held that while the authority may possess the power,....
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....itation. Section 107(1) of the Act is as follows : "107. Appeals to Appellate Authority.- (1) Any person aggrieved by any decision or order passed under this Act or the Central Goods and Services Tax Act by an adjudicating authority may appeal to such Appellate Authority as may be prescribed within three months from the date on which the said decision or order is communicated to such person." A careful reading of the aforesaid provision leads me to conclude that the limitation will start running from the date on which the order or decision is communicated to the assessee. The provision does not say that limitation should be calculated from the date of service of the order on the assessee. Section 169 talks about service. Of course, it talks about serving not only decision, order, summon or notice but also other communication. When a statute employs two different expressions, they denote different meanings. The expressions "served" and "communicated" are not synonymous. A literary person, to flaunt his richness of vocabulary, may use different words to mean one and the same thing. A lawmaker will desist from such endeavour. Article 22 of the Constitution of India also em....
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....otices or Orders' or 'Additional Notices or Orders', without any separate mode of physical intimation through postal means. 2. Due to the above mode of communication, a. Taxpayers, particularly small and medium enterprises, often remain unaware of such uploads. b. Many a time, appeal deadlines are missed, not due to wilful default but due to the absence of knowledge of such communications. c. Consequently, it results in litigation, multiplicity of writ petitions, and increased burden on the Hon'ble Courts, and other stake holders in the GST. 3.Suggestion for a practical reform: This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to direct or recommend that the GST Network (GSTN), GST Council or the respective governments to take immediate steps to re-engineer the GST portal with the following suggested features: a. Prominent Notification Window: Any SCN, adjudication order, cancellation order, or appellate order shall be displayed prominently on the home page after login, highlighted in bold or in red, clearly indicating urgency. b. Mandatory Acknowledgement via OTP: * The portal can be modified such that u....
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....te of service under Section 169 of the CGST Act, 2017, thereby bringing clarity to limitation periods for filing appeals or replies. 5. It is submitted that if the taxpayer has not complied with the EKYC Norms, then on Login to the GST portal there pop ups a notification on the dashboard of GST portal reminding to fill the details for E-KYC. Similar to that a pop up can appear for notices and orders issued. 6. The benefits of such an approach are as follows: Reduces litigation based on non-service or delayed knowledge of orders. Brings clarity and transparency in procedural compliance. Ensures accessibility and accountability. Saves judicial time and aligns with the spirit of ease of doing business. 7. It is submitted that the when mode of service through portal is ineffective in practice for the above-mentioned reasons, and when the Hon'ble Madras High Court in WP Nos. 33562 of 2024 and etc, batch and in WP No. 1114 of 2025 have held that the mode of service through GST portal is a valid mode under Section 169 of the CGST Act, 2017, alternatively the GSTN should re-design the GST portal by providing easy visibility and accessibility of the notices or orders in th....