Calcutta High Court Restores GST Appeal Filed Under CBIC Amnesty Scheme: Rejection on Limitation Grounds Deemed Invalid

The Hon'ble Calcutta High Court has delivered a significant judgment favoring the assessee in the matter of Key Business Consultants Private Limited & Anr. Vs Union of India & ors.. The Court addressed a critical procedural conflict where the Appellate Authority dismissed an appeal on the grounds of limitation, despite the appeal being filed specifically under the purview of the Amnesty Scheme notified by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

This ruling reinforces the sanctity of amnesty schemes and clarifies that benefit granted by a specific notification cannot be negated by the general limitation provisions of the parent statute once the government has expressly condoned the delay for a specific class of assessees.

To understand the gravity of this judgment, one must look at the statutory provisions governing appeals under the Goods and Services Tax regime.

Statutory Limitation under Section 107

Under Section 107 of the CGST Act, 2017 and the WBGST Act, 2017, an assessee aggrieved by an adjudicating authority's order is required to file an appeal within three months from the date of communication of the order. The Appellate Authority is empowered to condone a further delay of one month if sufficient cause is shown. Beyond this aggregate period (3 months + 1 month), the statute generally does not permit the admission of appeals, rendering the demand or rejection final.

The CBIC Amnesty Notification

Recognizing that many assessees missed their appellate deadlines due to various reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic and technical glitches, the Government issued a benevolent notification. The CBIC Notification dated November 2, 2023, introduced an Amnesty Scheme.

This scheme specifically catered to taxable persons whose appeals against orders passed on or before March 31, 2023, were rejected solely on the grounds that they were not filed within the time period specified in Section 107. The notification allowed such assessees to re-file their appeals on or before January 31, 2024, subject to certain conditions regarding pre-deposit.

Facts of the Case

The dispute in Key Business Consultants Private Limited & Anr. Vs Union of India & ors. arose from a rejection of a refund claim and the subsequent appellate proceedings.