Gujarat High Court Refuses to Condone Delay Beyond Statutory Limit in GST Appeal

The petitioner, a small partnership firm registered under GST, was issued a demand order dated 21.03.2024 under Section 74(5) of the CGST/SGST Act, raising a total demand of Rs. 5,03,768/-. The petitioner claimed that it became aware of the demand order only on 30.03.2025 and thereafter approached the department, which advised filing an appeal along with an application for condonation of delay.

An appeal under Section 107 of the Act was filed before the appellate authority after a delay of 284 days. The appellate authority rejected the appeal solely on the ground that it lacked statutory power to condone delay beyond the prescribed period. Aggrieved by this rejection, the petitioner approached the High Court under Article 226 seeking quashing of the appellate order and condonation of delay.

Issue Raised: Whether the High Court, in exercise of its writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution, can condone delay in filing a GST appeal beyond the maximum period of 120 days prescribed under Section 107 of the CGST Act.

HC’s Decision: The High Court dismissed the writ petition, holding that neither the appellate authority nor the High Court has the power to condone delay beyond the statutory outer limit of 120 days prescribed under Section 107 of the CGST Act.

Relying extensively on the Supreme Court’s decision in Assistant Commissioner (CT) LTU, Kakinada v. Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Health Care Ltd., the Court held that even the wide powers under Article 226 cannot be exercised in a manner that defeats the legislative intent embedded in a special statute prescribing strict limitation periods.

The Court held that once the statutory period, including the condonable period, stands exhausted, the writ court cannot re-examine “sufficient cause” or dilute the limitation. Therefore, the rejection of the appeal on the ground of delay was upheld, and the writ petition was dismissed.

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