The Bombay High Court has strongly criticised the GST Appellate Authority for rejecting an appeal filed by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) on the ground of limitation without affording the company an opportunity to be heard or considering the correct date of filing.
A division bench of Justices M. S. Sonak and Jitendra Jain observed that IOCL had originally filed its appeal on June 25, 2024, well within the statutory period under Section 107(1) of the CGST Act, 2017. However, due to a technical flaw in the GST portal, the appeal was automatically routed to the wrong authority and dismissed at the threshold.
“The petitioner cannot be prejudiced due to the technical glitch when the appeal was first filed,” the bench noted. It further emphasised that the re-filing of the appeal on July 12, 2024—clearly within the condonable period—was wrongly disregarded by the appellate authority, which instead relied on the later date of physical filing (July 31, 2024).
Importantly, the Court held that if the authority believed the appeal to be time-barred, it was obligated to give IOCL an opportunity to present its case and provide evidence.
The Court referred to its earlier rulings in Siemens Ltd. v. Union of India and Bytedance India Technology Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India, where similar procedural lapses were dealt with by setting aside the orders and directing fresh consideration.
In addition, the bench noted that IOCL had filed an application seeking condonation of delay, but the appellate authority neither heard the company nor decided that application.
“In any event, we are satisfied that the appeal was instituted within the delay condonable period, and more than ample cause was shown for condonation,” the Court said, while restoring the matter to the file of the Appellate Authority.
The bench has directed that the appeal now be disposed of on its own merits, in accordance with law.
Case Details
Case Title: Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Versus Union of India
Case No.: Writ Petition No.1463 Of 2025
Date: 08 JULY 2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Mr.Sriram Sridharan
Counsel For Respondent: Shruti Vyas
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