HC Condones Appeal Delay, Citing Defective DRC-07 Upload and Bona Fide Confusion.

Issue

Can a GST appeal be dismissed as time-barred under Section 107 of the CGST Act when the delay was caused by a late and defective upload of the summary order (FORM GST DRC-07) on the portal, leading to bona fide confusion for the taxpayer?

Facts

The tax authority passed an Order-in-Original (OIO), imposing tax, interest, and penalty.
The summary of the order in FORM GST DRC-07 was uploaded to the GST portal belatedly.
Furthermore, the uploaded DRC-07 was defective, as it failed to reflect the correct demand (it did not include the interest and penalty components).
The assessee, described as an aged proprietor with medical issues, filed a physical appeal in FORM GST APL-01 after recovery proceedings had already begun.
The Appellate Authority rejected the appeal, calculating a delay of 23 days (beyond the maximum condonable period of four months) by computing the limitation from the original order date.

Decision

The High Court set aside the appellate authority’s order that had dismissed the appeal.
It held that the late and defective upload of the FORM GST DRC-07 had created bona fide confusion for the taxpayer.
The court noted that the limitation period under Section 107 runs from the “communication” of the order, and a prompt and correct upload of the order and its summary is part of a valid communication.
Given the circumstances, the authority’s strict calculation of the limitation period from the OIO date was not proper.
The rejection of the appeal for a 23-day delay was deemed improper, and the matter was remanded to the appellate authority for a fresh decision on its merits.

Key Takeaways

Limitation Runs from Valid Communication: The time limit for an appeal begins from the date the order is “communicated.” This ruling implies that a late or defective upload of the order summary (DRC-07) does not constitute a valid communication.
Portal Errors are a Valid Excuse: A taxpayer cannot be penalized for a delay in filing when that delay is attributable to the tax authority’s failure to properly upload the order and its summary in a timely and correct manner.
Bona Fide Confusion Matters: The court will consider the genuine confusion caused by the department’s actions (like uploading a defective summary) as a sufficient cause to justify a more lenient view on limitation.
Substantive Right to Appeal: The High Court will intervene in its writ jurisdiction to protect a taxpayer’s substantive right to an appeal when that right is defeated by the department’s own procedural lapses.

HIGH COURT OF TELANGANA

Padmaja Gas Agencies

Additional Commissioner Appeals

APARESH KUMAR SINGH, CJ.
and G.M. MOHIUDDIN, J.

WP no. 28221 of 2025

SEPTEMBER 23, 2025

Kohir Bhaskar Reddy for the Petitioner. Dominic Fernandes, learned Senior Standing Counsel for the Respondent.

ORDER

1. Learned counsel Sri Kohir Bhaskar Reddy appears for the petitioner.

Sri Dominic Fernandes, learned Senior Standing Counsel for Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), appears for respondents No.1 to 3 and 5.

2. Heard the learned counsel for the parties.

3. The appeal preferred by the petitioner against the order-in-original dated 08.12.2023 was rejected by the impugned order-in-appeal dated 18.10.2024 by respondent No.1 on grounds of delay of 23 days. The petitioner has taken a plea that the order-in-original was received on 15.12.2023. The summary of the order in DRC-07 was uploaded belatedly without showing the interest and penalty on 31.12.2023. The proprietor of the petitioner had suffered some medical issues as she is old aged. After recovery, she filed the appeal in Form GST APL-01 physically with 23 days delays, which according to the petitioner is condonable under Section 107(4) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as, “the Act”). However, the same was rejected as being delayed by 23 days from the date of the order-in-original. Therefore, the petitioner has preferred this writ petition.

4. We have considered the submissions of the learned counsel for the petitioner and also learned counsel for the revenue.

5. Rule 108 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as, “the Rules”), governs the procedure for filing an appeal under Section 107(1) of the Act. The relevant Rule is quoted hereunder:

“108. Appeal to the Appellate Authority.-

(1) An appeal to the Appellate Authority under sub-section (1) of section 107 shall be filed in FORM GST APL-01, along with the relevant documents, either electronically, and a provisional acknowledgement shall be issued to the appellant immediately.

PROVIDED that an appeal to the Appellate Authority may be filed manually in FORM GST APL-01, along with the relevant documents, only if –

(i) the Commissioner has so notified, or

(ii) the same cannot be filed electronically due to nonavailability of the decision or order to be appealed against on the common portal, and in such case, a provisional acknowledgement shall be issued to the appellant immediately.

(2) The grounds of appeal and the form of verification as contained in FORM GST APL-01 shall be signed in the manner specified in rule 26.

(3) Where the decision or order appealed against is uploaded on the common portal, a final acknowledgement, indicating appeal number, shall be issued in FORM GST APL-02 by the Appellate Authority or an officer authorised by him in this behalf and the date of issue of the provisional acknowledgment shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal:

PROVIDED that where the decision or order appealed against is not uploaded on the common portal, the appellant shall submit a self-certified copy of the said decision or order within a period of seven days from the date of filing of FORM GST APL-01 and a final acknowledgement, indicating appeal number, shall be issued in FORM GST APL-02 by the Appellate Authority or an officer authorised by him in this behalf, and the date of issue of the provisional acknowledgment shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal:

PROVIDED FURTHER that where the said selfcertified copy of the decision or order is not submitted within a period of seven days from the date of filing of

FORM GST APL-01, the date of submission of such copy shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal.

Explanation.- For the provisions of this rule, the appeal shall be treated as filed only when the final acknowledgement, indicating the appeal number, is issued.”

6. Proviso to Rule 108(1) of the Rules permits filing of an appeal manually in FORM GST APL-01 along with the relevant documents, if the Commissioner has so notified or the same cannot be filed electronically due to nonavailability of the decision or order to be appealed against on the common portal, in which case, a provisional acknowledgement shall be issued to the appellant immediately. Upon uploading of the order or decision appealed against, a final acknowledgement indicating appeal number shall be issued in FORM GST APL-02 and the date of issue of the provisional acknowledgement shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal. Proviso to Rule 108(3) of the Rules provides that where the decision or order appealed against is not uploaded on the common portal, the appellant shall submit a self-certified copy of the said decision or order within a period of seven days from the date of filing of FORM GST APL-01 and a final acknowledgement indicating appeal number shall be issued in FORM GST APL-02 by the appellate authority or an officer authorised by him in this behalf and the date of issue of the provisional acknowledgement shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal. The second proviso thereto, further provides that where the said selfcertified copy of the decision or order is not submitted within a period of seven days from the date of filing of FORM GST APL-01, the date of submission of such copy shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal. The explanation thereto says that, the appeal shall be treated as filed only when the final acknowledgement, indicating the appeal number, is issued.

7. The petitioner, under a mistaken impression, filed the appeal physically on 22.04.2024. The DRC-07 contains certain defects. Though the DRC-07 did not contain the interest and penalty, but the petitioner preferred the appeal with bona fide intention physically against the order-in-original. Upon filing of the appeal physically, the appeal number was also issued, though the appeal did not contain the DRC-07. Because of this bona fide confusion, the appellate authority treated the appeal filed manually and held it to be barred by 23 days of delay. If the orderin-original levied penalty and interest also upon the petitioner, the summary of the order ought to have reflected it. Therefore, there was an inherent defect in the proceedings which should inure to the benefit of the assessee tax payer. There was also some delay in uploading of the summary of the order in DRC-07. Ordinarily, the summary of the order is uploaded on the same day or the following day of the passing of the order-in-original. The period of limitation is counted from the date of communication of the order-in-original. The appeal is preferred enclosing the order-in-original and the summary of the order also. The appeal, in the instant case, has been dismissed taking a very strict view of the matter when the department was also in error in not uploading the summary of the order timely and the summary did not reflect the penalty and the interest part which was imposed as per the order-in-original.

8. Taking into consideration all these facts and circumstances, we are of the considered view that the rejection of the appeal on grounds of delay of 23 days was not proper on the part of the appellate authority.

9. Accordingly, the impugned order-in-appeal is set aside. The matter is remitted to the appellate authority to take a fresh decision on the appeal in accordance with law, within a reasonable period.

10. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of. However, there shall be no order as to costs.

Miscellaneous applications pending, if any, shall stand closed.