An appeal cannot be rejected for a minor procedural lapse like not filing a certified copy.

An appeal cannot be rejected for a minor procedural lapse like not filing a certified copy.

Issue

Can a GST Appellate Authority reject an appeal that has been filed within the statutory time limit, solely on the hyper-technical ground that a physical certified copy of the order being appealed was not submitted, without giving the appellant a hearing or examining the merits of the case?

Facts

• A petitioner filed a statutory appeal before the first appellate authority against an adverse GST order. The appeal was filed within the prescribed period of limitation.
• The appellate authority, however, rejected the appeal at the threshold.
• The sole reason for this rejection was the procedural issue of the non-receipt of the physical certified copies of the order under appeal.
• The authority did not provide the petitioner with an opportunity of being heard on this issue and did not examine the merits of the appeal in any way.

Decision

The High Court ruled decisively in favour of the assessee.

• It held that the appellate authority’s approach was “hyper-technical” and legally unsustainable.
• The court found that since the appeal was filed within the limitation period, the authority should have granted an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner instead of summarily dismissing the case on a minor procedural ground.
• It emphasized that a hyper-technical view should not be taken in tax matters, as they entail significant financial liability for the taxpayer.
• The order of the appellate authority was set aside, and the matter was remanded back with a clear direction to the authority to decide the appeal on its merits.

Key Takeways

1. Substance Must Prevail Over Form: This is a classic application of the legal principle that the substance of a case should take precedence over minor procedural formalities. A timely filed appeal, which is a taxpayer’s statutory right, cannot be defeated by a curable procedural defect.
2. A “Hyper-Technical” Approach is Not Permissible in Tax Law: The courts consistently discourage tax authorities from taking an overly rigid and technical view, especially when it leads to the denial of justice. The focus should be on deciding the case on its merits.
3. The Right to a Hearing is Fundamental: An appellate authority cannot dismiss an appeal, even on a procedural ground, without first giving the appellant a fair opportunity to be heard on that issue. This is a core requirement of the principles of natural justice.
4. The Remedy is a Decision on Merits: When an appeal is improperly dismissed on a technicality, the standard judicial remedy is to remand the case back to the same authority with a direction to hear and decide the appeal on its substantive merits.