2026 (2) TMI 781

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....prietorship firm of Shri Suresh Tripathi, has been rejected on limitation. 2. Brief facts of the case are such that during the period 2014-15, the Appellant was working as a distributor of M/s Vodafone Idea Ltd [Vodafone]., wherein the Vodafone was selling SIM cards and recharge coupons through the Appellant and was paying commission to the Appellant, out of the consideration received from customers on which service tax liability was discharged by Vodafone. 3. On the basis of third party information received from the Income Tax Department, the Revenue formed an opinion that the Appellant has received an amount of Rs.13,81,305/- against sale of taxable services but has not discharged service tax liability. A Show Cause Notice [SCN] dat....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

.... 5. By the impugned order dated 11.11.2024, the Commissioner (Appeals) has rejected the appeal as barred by limitation, which has been assailed in the present appeal. 6. Ld. Counsel for the Appellant submits that the Commissioner (Appeals) has wrongly concluded that the appeal was barred by limitation of time as the appeal was filed within the condonable period and therefore the appeal may be treated as filed within time and the same may be heard on merits, otherwise the Appellant shall suffer from irreparable loss and injury. 7. Per contra, the learned Departmental Authorized Representative appearing for the Revenue supported the findings recorded in the impugned order and prayed that the appeal filed by the Appellant, being devoi....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....in adjudication order has not been rejected in the impugned order, it has to be held that 27.10.2023 cannot be treated as the date of service of adjudication order, as service can be said to be completed in law only when a complete copy of order is served on the assessee. This is more so when pages 4 & 5 of the adjudication order contains the discussion and finding part which contains the reasons on the basis of which order is passed against the assessee. 11. In somewhat similar facts, the jurisdictional High Court in Duaji Ispat Pvt. Ltd. vs. State of U.P. 2022 (59) G.S.T.L. 263 (All) has held as under:- "6. In view of such facts it has to be accepted in law that the impugned order does not contain reasons. This conclusion is b....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....has been provided under Section 85 of the Finance Act, 1994 and relevant part of the same is as under:- "(3A) An appeal shall be presented within two months from the date of receipt of the decision or order of such adjudicating authority, made on and after the Finance Bill, 2012 receives the assent of the President, relating to service tax, interest or penalty under this Chapter: Provided that the Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals) may, if he is satisfied that the Appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from presenting the appeal within the aforesaid period of two months, allow it to be presented within a further period of one month." 14. A perusal of above provision shows that appeal can be presented within a....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

.... is erroneous. A 'month' does not refer to a period of thirty days, but refers to the actual period of a calendar month. If the month is April, June, September or November, the period of the month will be thirty days. If the month is January, March, May, July, August, October or December, the period of the month will be thirty one days. If the month is February, the period will be twenty nine days or twenty eight days depending upon whether it is a leap year or not. Therefore when the period prescribed is three months (as contrasted from 90 days) from a specified date, the said period would expire in the third month on the date corresponding to the date upon which the period starts. As a result, depending upon the months, i....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....in which the notice expires. 10. The aforesaid Judgments clearly laid down the principle that, when a period, available for a certain action, is defined in terms of months, it would mean that the corresponding date of the corresponding month would be the cutoff date. In the present case, the cutoff date for issuing an order is 28.02.2025. The three months period which would elapse from this date would be 28.11.2024. Since the notice was issued on 30.11.2024, it would be beyond the time stipulated under Section 73(2) of the GST Act." 15. Thus, since Section 85(3A) uses the expression 'month' in contrast to 'days', the two months period from 08.12.2023 elapsed on the corresponding date of corresponding month i.e. on 08.02.2024 and....