The Telangana High Court has disposed of a writ petition filed by S. Ashok Kumar, Managing Director of M/s Annai Infra Developers Ltd., Tamil Nadu, challenging a penalty order under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) laws, and directed the petitioner to instead approach the newly constituted GST Appellate Tribunal within the prescribed time window.
The bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin has observed that the GST Appellate Tribunal has begun functioning, and under Section 112 of the CGST Act, as amended by the Finance Act, 2025, appeals relating to penalty-only matters require a mandatory pre-deposit of 10% of the penalty amount.
The petitioner had approached the High Court questioning the Order-in-Appeal dated 30.09.2025, by which the Commissioner (Appeals) upheld the penalty imposed through the original adjudication order.
The Tribunal has already issued a notification dated 24.09.2025 prescribing the time window for filing appeals depending on when the order was passed.
Since the order in this case is dated 30.09.2025, the petitioner may file the appeal between February 1, 2026 and June 30, 2026.
The Court clarified that the petitioner must deposit 10% of the penalty within eight weeks to avail protection from coercive recovery.
S. Ashok Kumar
The Court rejected the petitioner’s request seeking adjustment of amounts earlier deposited under GST DRC-03(during investigation) toward the 10% penalty pre-deposit, noting that the earlier deposit was in relation to tax liability, whereas the current issue pertains only to penalty.
Case Details
Case Title: S. Ashok Kumar Versus The Commissioner of Customs and Central Tax
Case No.: Writ Petition No: 32622 Of 2025
Date: 29/10/2025
Counsel For Petitioner: S. Durairaj Rep Sri Madanu Naresh
Counsel For Respondent: Dominic Fernandes