Once GST Appeal Is Filed On Portal, No Mandatory Requirement To File Hard Copy Or Certified Copy Of Order: J&K&L High Court

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court held that once a GST appeal is filed electronically within the statutory period along with the uploaded order, there is no requirement to file a hard copy or certified copy of the order. Justices Sindhu Sharma and Shahzad Azeem stated that the appeal was filed online within statutory period along with the copy of order and therefore, there was no requirement of filing the hard copy of the same. Therefore, its rejection on the ground of not filing of the hard copy, is without any merit. This apart, the appeal cannot be rejected only on these procedural grounds without granting any opportunity of hearing to the petitioner/assessee. In the case at hand, the assessee/petitioner was engaged in providing tour-related services by planning and organising tours, arranging transportation, accommodation facilities, meals and guide services and also assisting in marketing the tourist destinations and tourism products. For providing these services, the petitioner has procured various inputs and input services, in respect of which it avails the eligible Input Tax Credit (ITC) as per the provisions of the J&K GST Act. A show cause notice was issued to the assessee under section 73 of the GST Act, proposing the demand of CGST and SGST amounting to ₹8,57,286/- and ₹8,56,546/- along with interest and penalty. The Adjudicating Authority confirmed the demand made in the show cause notice. The assessee filed an appeal against the order on the GST portal. The appeal was filed on the ground that the assessee had not availed the excess ITC during the relevant period, and there was a mismatch between the ITC in Form GSTR-2A and Form GSTR-3B because of reporting ineligible ITC and ITC reversal and availment of ITC in the subsequent financial year. However, the appeal filed by the assessee was rejected by the department by issuing Form GST APL-02 on the ground that the assessee had not submitted the hard copy of the appeal. The assessee contended that the appeal has been filed in Form GST APL-01 in accordance with Section 107 of the J&K GST Act, read with Rule 108 of J&K GST Rules, and there is no requirement of filing a hard copy of the appeal. The rejection of the appeal only on the ground of non-filing of the hard copy is unwarranted, especially when there is no such requirement under the rules. The department argued that Rule-108 of the CGST Rules clearly provides submission of a hard copy of the appeal along with the certified copy of the appeal, but the assessee has annexed neither the hard copy nor the certified copy of the impugned order along with the appeal. The bench, after examining Section 107 of the J&K GST Act and Rule-108(1) of the J&K GST Rules, opined that the appeal could be submitted electronically to the Appellate Authority. The only other method for filing the same would be as notified by the Commissioner, the respondents have failed to place on record any notification to this effect, which in any case would be in addition to the prescribed mode of filing the appeal electronically. Therefore, rejection of the appeal merely on the ground that hard copy of the appeal has not been filed is unsustainable. The bench further noted that the requirement of submitting a certified copy of the order, in case the order appealed is uploaded in the GST portal, has been removed vide amendment in Rule108 issued vide S.O 104. The order was uploaded on the GST Portal against which the assessee had filed an appeal; therefore, there was no requirement of submitting a certified copy of the same, noted the bench. The bench opined that the filing of the hard copy was not mandatory; therefore, rejection of the appeal merely on this ground affecting the substantial rights of the parties is unsustainable. In view of the above, the bench allowed the petition. Case Title: TC Tours Limited v. Union Territory of J&K and Ors. Case Number: WP(C) No. 809/2024 Counsel for Petitioner/Assessee: Amrinder Singh and Sheikh Umar Farooq Counsel for Respondent/Department: Mohsin Qadiri, Sr. AAG with Maha Majeed Click Here To Read/Download Order

Once GST Appeal Is Filed On Portal, No Mandatory Requirement To File Hard Copy Or Certified Copy Of Order: J&K&L High Court

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