GSTAT Now Functional: High Courts Direct Taxpayers to Tribunal for Appeals

The Issue

Whether writ petitions against orders passed under Section 107 (First Appeals) should continue to be entertained by High Courts now that the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) has been formally constituted and made operational.

The Facts

The Vacuum: For years, taxpayers were forced to file writ petitions in High Courts because the GSTAT (the statutory second appeal forum) had not been established.
The Change: The Central Government recently constituted the Tribunal, appointed its President and Members (effective late 2025/early 2026), and notified procedural rules for its functioning.
Interim Measures: In many pending writ petitions, High Courts had previously directed taxpayers to deposit a specific portion of the tax demand as a condition for staying recovery while the Tribunal was unavailable.

The Decision

Mandatory Tribunal Route: The Court (Allahabad HC) held that since the GSTAT is now functional, the reason for bypassing the statutory remedy via writ jurisdiction no longer exists.
Extended Deadline: To ensure no taxpayer is unfairly barred, the Court permitted appeals to be filed before the Tribunal up to June 30, 2026, for orders communicated prior to April 1, 2026. Appeals filed within this window must be entertained without any objection regarding limitation.
Credit for Previous Deposits: Any amount already deposited by the assessee under the High Court’s interim orders will be treated as compliance with the Section 112(8) pre-deposit requirement (typically 20% of the disputed tax). Taxpayers only need to provide proof of such deposit and the court’s order to the Tribunal.
Outcome: The writ petition was disposed of, directing the taxpayer to move the Tribunal. The Tribunal will now decide the cases independently on their merits. In favour of assessee.

HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD

Iact Global Education (P) Ltd

State of Uttar Pradesh^*

Piyush Agrawal, J.

WRIT TAX No. 5112 of 2025

JANUARY 12, 2026

Mehul Khare and Pragya Pandey for the Petitioner. Ravi Shanker Pandey, Learned ACSC for the Respondent.

ORDER

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Ravi Shanker Pandey, learned ACSC for the State – respondents.

2. The instant writ petition was entertained by this Court as GST Appellate Tribunal under section 112 of the GST Act was not constituted for preferring appeal against the orders passed under sections 107 or 108 of the GST Act.

3. Now, the Central Government, vide order dated 24.09.2025, has constituted the GST Appellate Tribunal and its Members have been appointed vide Office Order No. 03/2025 dated 26.12.2025 with a request to join their respective Benches by 21.01.2026.

4. The Central Government, in exercise of powers conferred under section 111 of the GST Act, issued notification dated 24.04.2025 making rules for regulating the procedure and functioning of the GST Appellate Tribunal.

5. Once the procedure has been notified and appointments of the Presidents and the Members have been made to the respective Benches of the GST Appellate Tribunal, which itself indicates the functioning of GST Appellate Tribunal are put to motion, no useful purpose will be served in keeping the matter pending before this Court.

6. While entertaining the writ petition, the petitioner(s) was directed to deposit certain amount, in addition to the amount paid under sub-section (6) of section 107 of the GST Act, which might have been complied with by the petitioner(s). For entertaining an appeal, sub-section (8) of section 112 of the CGST Act contemplates condition for depositing certain amount as prescribed in clauses (a) & (b) thereon.

7. In view of the aforesaid facts & circumstances of the case, without entering into the validity and legality of the impugned orders, the writ petition is disposed of with the following directions:-

(i)

the petitioner(s) is/are permitted to prefer an appeal before the GST Appellate Tribunal as contemplated under section 112 of the GST Act as well as under the notification issued by the Central Government i.e. Notification No. CG-DL-E-17092025-266217 dated 17.9.2025, up to the period of June 30, 2026.

(ii)

in case the appeal is preferred within the aforesaid period as referred herein above, the same shall be entertained without raising any objection with regard to the limitation;

(iii)

while entertaining the writ petition, this Court directed the petitioner(s) to deposit certain amount. In case such amount is deposited by the petitioner(s), the same shall be treated as compliance of sub-section (8) of section 112 of the GST Act, for which the petitioner(s) shall furnish a certified copy of the interim order along with proof of deposit of such amount;

(iv)

the Registrar of the GST Appellate Tribunal or the Officer appointed for verification of appeal shall intimate the petitioner(s) for removing the defects, if any, within a period of three weeks from the date of preferring the appeal and the defects, if any, shall be cured/removed by the petitioner(s) within a period of 30 days from the date of intimation of such defects;

(v)

it is made clear that the appeal shall be decided in accordance with law on its own merits.