GSTAT Operational: High Court Transition and Appeal Deadlines

The Issue

Whether pending writ petitions against first appellate orders (Section 107) should continue in the High Court now that GSTAT is operational, and how existing court-ordered deposits should be treated under the new appellate regime.

The Facts

The Vacuum: Taxpayers previously filed writ petitions because the second appellate forum (GSTAT) was not constituted. Courts entertained these cases to prevent a “remedy-less” situation.
The Change: The Central Government officially constituted the Tribunal, appointed members (taking office by early 2026), and notified procedural rules.
The Transition: In this case (similar to Hind Timber Merchant or Mohd. Salman), the Court needed to dispose of the pending writ while protecting the taxpayer’s right to appeal before the new GSTAT benches.

The Decision

The High Court disposed of the writ petition with the following transitional directions:

Extended Limitation Window: Taxpayers are permitted to file their appeals before the GSTAT up to June 30, 2026, for orders communicated before April 1, 2026. If filed by this date, the Tribunal cannot raise any objection regarding limitation.
Recognition of Deposits: Any amount deposited by the assessee pursuant to the High Court’s interim orders (during the writ proceedings) will be treated as compliance with the Section 112(8) pre-deposit requirement (usually an additional 10% of the disputed tax).
Proof of Compliance: To claim this credit, the assessee must furnish a certified copy of the High Court’s interim order and the proof of deposit to the Tribunal.
Defect Rectification: The Tribunal is directed to intimate any defects in the appeal within three weeks, giving the assessee 30 days to cure them.
Outcome: The writ petition was disposed of without entering into the merits, ensuring the case is heard by the specialized Tribunal. In favour of assessee.

Key Takeaways for Taxpayers

Golden Period for Filing: Use the window up to June 30, 2026, to review all past adverse appellate orders (from 2017 onwards) where you couldn’t file a second appeal.
Pre-deposit Advantage: If you already paid a high deposit to stay recovery during a writ, that money is not “lost.” It will be adjusted toward your GSTAT pre-deposit, often satisfying the requirement completely.
Statutory Discipline: Unless there is a gross violation of natural justice or a jurisdictional error, High Courts will now insist on the exhaustion of the alternative remedy (GSTAT) before entertaining a writ.

HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD

Hind Timber Merchant

Additional Commissioner Grade-2 Appeals^*

Piyush Agrawal, J.

WRIT TAX No. 2511 of 2025

JANUARY 7, 2026

Praveen Kumar for the Petitioner.

ORDER

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and 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 Tribunals and the 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 CGST 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.