The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has declined to interfere with the rejection of a GST appeal filed nearly 16 months after an earlier court order had permitted the taxpayer to approach the appellate authority within two weeks.

The bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy found no infirmity in the appellate authority’s decision to reject the delayed appeal and noted that Section 107 of the applicable GST enactments prescribes three months for filing an appeal from the date of communication of the relevant order, with provision for condonation of a further one month.

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The appellant/assessee initially challenged that order by filing writ petition. The writ petition was disposed of on April 25, 2025, with permission to file a statutory appeal within two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of the Court’s order.

However, the taxpayer lodged the appeal only on August 22, 2026. The appellate authority subsequently rejected it through an order in Form GST APL-02 dated September 1, 2026.

Challenging this rejection, the taxpayer approached the High Court again. It sought to have the rejection order quashed and requested a direction requiring the appellate authority to entertain the appeal against the assessment order and decide it on merits after providing a reasonable opportunity of personal hearing.

The taxpayer submitted that the statutory appeal had been rejected solely on the ground of delay. He requested another opportunity for the taxpayer to present the appeal.

The central issue before the Court was whether the rejection of the appeal warranted interference when the taxpayer had failed to file it within the period permitted by the earlier judicial order and had approached the appellate authority long after the statutory limitation period had expired.

Examining the record, Justice Ramamoorthy noted that the taxpayer had not lodged the appeal within the two-week period permitted by the Court. Instead, it submitted the appeal about 16 months after the earlier order.

The Court referred to the limitation framework under Section 107 of the applicable GST enactments. It explained that an appeal must be filed within three months from the date on which the relevant order is communicated. The party concerned may seek condonation of a further period of one month.

Against this statutory framework and the earlier court-granted opportunity, the Court found no basis to interfere with the rejection.

“Given that the appeal was presented long after the period of limitation had expired, I find no infirmity in the impugned order rejecting the appeal,” the Court observed. VON INDUSTRIES

The High Court disposed of the writ petition by leaving it open to the taxpayer to challenge the original assessment order in accordance with law.

The Court did not direct the appellate authority to entertain the delayed appeal or examine the assessment on merits. Its liberty concerning the original order was expressly subject to the requirements of law.

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