High Court Directs GSTAT Appeal Filing With Mandatory Pre-Deposit Compliance

The petitioner challenged an order passed under Section 74 of the CGST/OGST Act for the period July 2017 to March 2018, which had already been upheld by the First Appellate Authority. Since the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) was not functional at the relevant time, the petitioner approached the High Court by way of a writ petition.

During the hearing, it was not disputed that the GSTAT had now been constituted and made functional. The Revenue, however, argued that even if the Tribunal was earlier unavailable, the statutory requirement of pre-deposit under Section 112(8) could not be bypassed.

Main Issue: Whether a   should be entertained when the statutory appellate forum (GSTAT) has become functional, and whether pre-deposit conditions under Section 112(8) must still be complied with.

HC’s Decision: The High Court declined to entertain the writ petition on merits, holding that once the GSTAT has become functional and timelines for filing appeals have been extended, the petitioner must avail the statutory remedy.

The Court clarified that while writ jurisdiction may be invoked when no alternative remedy exists, such relief cannot override mandatory statutory conditions. Thus, the petitioner was directed to file an appeal before the GSTAT within the prescribed timeline and comply with the pre-deposit requirement under Section 112(8). The writ petition was disposed of without examining the merits of the case.

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