High Court Mandates Immediate Operationalization of GST Appellate Tribunal Following Prolonged Appointment Delays

Issue

Whether the continued non-functionality of the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) is legally permissible given that the members were appointed as far back as August 2025, and whether the Court should intervene to compel the commencement of adjudicatory functions.

Facts

The Mandate: Section 109 of the CGST Act requires the Government to constitute an Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) to hear second appeals under Section 112.
Timeline of Constitution: * July 2024: Tribunals were officially constituted on paper.
- April 2025: GSTAT (Procedure) Rules, 2025, were notified.
- August 2025: The first major batch of Judicial and Technical Members was appointed.
- December 2025: Additional member appointments were finalized with a request to join by January 2026.
The Grievance: Despite these appointments and the opening of an online filing portal (September 2025), the Tribunal remained non-functional for physical hearings and actual case disposal.
Government’s Stand: An affidavit from a Deputy Secretary stated that steps were “underway,” and digital infrastructure was being prepared.

Decision

Unexplained Delay: The Court expressed grave concern over the “unexplained delay” in making the benches operational, noting that members had been appointed months ago but were not yet discharging adjudicatory duties.
Accountability: The Court rejected the affidavit from a Deputy Secretary as insufficient, demanding a fresh affidavit from a senior officer (not below the rank of Joint Secretary, Department of Revenue).
Peremptory Direction: The Court granted a final one-week window for the Government to take effective steps to make the GSTAT actually functional.
Status Update (2026): Following such judicial pressure, the GSTAT formally commenced its first phase of adjudicatory operations on February 16, 2026, with the Principal Bench and several State Benches (e.g., Cuttack, Delhi) becoming functional for hearing cases.
Outcome: Ruled in favor of the assessee/public interest, leading to the end of the 8-year appellate vacuum.

Key Takeaways

End of Writ Jurisdiction Bypass: With the GSTAT now functional, High Courts are increasingly refusing to entertain Writ Petitions under Article 226 for matters that can be resolved by the Tribunal.
Transitional Limitation Period: For orders communicated before April 1, 2026, the deadline to file an appeal before the GSTAT has been extended to June 30, 2026.
Pre-deposit Credit: Any amounts deposited by taxpayers under previous High Court interim orders will be adjusted against the mandatory 20% pre-deposit (10% already paid at First Appeal + 10% for Tribunal) required under Section 112(8).

HIGH COURT OF DELHI

Rajesh Khanna

Commissioner of Central Tax Appeals I Delhi^*

NITIN WASUDEO SAMBRE and Ajay Digpaul, JJ.

W.P.(C) No. 81 of 2026
CM APPL. No. 423 of 2026

FEBRUARY 2, 2026

Sudhir Mathur, Ms. Charu Bhardwaj, Utkarsh Mathur and Aman Singhal, Advs. for the Petitioner. Rohan Jaitley, CGSC, Akshay Sharma, Dev Pratap Shahi, Varun Pratap Singh, Yogya Bhatia, Ms. Upasna Vashistha, Advs. and Ruchesh Sinha, Sr. Standing Counsel for the Respondent.

ORDER

1. Section 109 of the CGST Act mandates constitution of a Tribunal to deal with the appeals which are provided under Section 112.

2. Since this Tribunal was not constituted for long, this Court is required to look into the same, and accordingly, we have passed the first order on 06^th January, 2026.

3. Subsequent thereto, an affidavit is placed on record through assistance of Mr. Jaitley, learned Standing Counsel for the Central Government, appearing on behalf of the Additional Solicitor General, pursuant to the directions of this Court, so as to apprise this Court viz. the steps taken in the matter of the Tribunal being made functional.

4. The affidavit duly sworn by Mr. Vikash Kumar, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Finance speaks of accepting of online filing and the steps taken in the matter.

5. Paras 8 to 13 of the affidavit dated 21^st January, 2026, reads thus:-

“INFRASTRUCTURE AND READINESS OF DELHI BENCH

8. That in order to facilitate smooth filing of appeals, the Hon’ble President, GSTAT, initially issued an order for the staggering of filing dates. However, subsequently, with the stabilisation of the portal and increased filing capacity, the said order was withdrawn vide Order No. 315/2025 dated 16.12.2025, and presently all appeals are filed online. Further, hearings before the Principal Bench have already commenced. A copy of the Order No. 315/2025 dated 16.12.2025 is marked and annexed herewith as ANNEXURE R4.

9. That the permanent location of the GSTAT Delhi Bench is at K-800 & K-900, 8th Floor, World Trade Centre, Nauroji Nagar, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-110029, where renovation and interior furnishing work is currently being undertaken by the CPWD.

10. That pending completion of the permanent premises, the Delhi Bench of GSTAT has temporarily been set up at: 3rd and 4th Floors, Hotel Samrat, Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax Settlement Commission, Kautilya Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-110021.

11. That the Members of the Delhi Bench have been directed to join at their respective locations on 21.01.2026, vide Department’s Order No. 03/2025 dated 26.12.2025, and thereafter hearings are expected to commence in virtual and/or physical mode. A copy of the Department’s Order No. 03/2025 dated 26.12.2025 is marked and annexed herewith as ANNEXURE R5.

STAFFING AND IT ENABLEMENT

12. That apart from the Members, twelve (12) officers/officials have been provided for the effective functioning of the Delhi Bench, including:

•

One Joint Registrar,

•

One Assistant Registrar, and

•

Two Court Officers, who have already been appointed and posted at Delhi.

13. That necessary IT infrastructure has been put in place, and it is respectfully submitted that the GSTAT is being implemented in a virtual/e-court enabled mode, enabling Members to conduct hearings through secure IT-enabled systems.

In view of the submission made hereinabove, it is respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to pass appropriate orders in the present petition. The Deponent prays accordingly”

6. As against above, the learned counsel for the petitioner states that the actual functioning of the Tribunal is yet to be commence.

7. Mr. Jaitley, learned Standing Counsel for the Central Government states that the presiding officers are already appointed and the only issue which is to be attended to by the IT infrastructure members is implementation of virtual/e-court mode so as to conduct the hearing through secure IT enabled system. According to him the same is likely to be completed and the Tribunal shall start functioning within the reasonable period.

8. It appears that the Tribunals were constituted way back vide notification dated 31^st July, 2024.

9. The members were appointed vide office orders no. TMC 02/2025 and 03/2025, on 8^th August, 2025 and 26^th December, 2025 respectively.

10. We fail to understand when the appointments of the members were made way back in August, 2025 what prompted the respondent in not taking timely steps to make the Tribunal functional.

11. Be that as it may, having regard to the submissions on instructions made by Mr. Jaitley, learned Standing Counsel for the Central Government, we deem it appropriate to direct the affidavit to be placed on record duly sworn by an officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary, Department of Revenue.

12. In the matter of timely effective steps being taken in making the Tribunal actual functional viz. discharging the adjudicatory duties. We grant time of one week for the same.

13. We request Mr. Jaitley, learned Standing Counsel for the Central Government to communicate this order to the respondents.

14. List on 16^th February, 2026.