The Kerala High Court has dismissed the writ petition  challenging GST assessment order after 4 years.

The bench of Justice Gopinath P. has observed that though Article 226 of the Constitution of India does not fix any period of limitation for the filing of a writ petition, it is settled law that a writ petition can be dismissed on the ground of inordinate delay in filing the writ petition.

The petitioner/assessee claimed that he is a contractor engaged in doing civil work for both the Government and private sectors. The petitioner is an assessee under the CGST/SGST Acts. Owing to the failure to file returns under the CGST/SGST Acts, the petitioner suffered series of orders under Section 62 of the CGST/SGST Act. These orders were issued on 11.2.2020 and 12.2.2020. 

The petitioner could not file any appeal against the orders for the months of January 2018, March 2018 and October 2018, as the petitioner could not download the file and proceed to file an appeal on the portal. 

Though the petitioner took up the matter with the GST help desk even they could not resolve the problem of the petitioner. It is submitted that this Court can direct the consideration of the appeal in the exercise of Writ Jurisdiction. 

The department contended that the petitioner attempted to file an appeal only in the month of December 2023 with an inordinate delay of almost 4 years considering that the orders of the Adjudicating Authority were issued in the month of February 2020. 

The department submitted that going by the provisions of Section 107 of the CGST/SGST Acts, no appeal could be maintained at the time when the petitioner attempted to file an appeal. No ground has been made out for the exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to enable the petitioner to file an appeal beyond the time specified by Section 107 of CGST/SGST Acts.

The court held that the petitioner has not made out any case for the grant of any relief under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The petitioner attempted to file the appeal against series of orders only in the month of December 2023 i.e., almost four years after the date on which the orders (against which the appeal was sought to be filed) had been issued. This Court cannot, normally in the exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India extend the time limit for filing an appeal under Section 107 of the CGST/SGST Acts. 

The court while dismissing the writ petition has held that the petitioner has failed to approach this Court within a reasonable time.

Case Details

Case Title:  Baiju George Versus CGST 

Case No.: WP(C) NO. 32538 OF 2024

Date: 19/11/2024

Counsel For Petitioner: Moosa E.S.

Counsel For Respondent: Thushara James