Orissa High Court Sets Aside GST Appeal Dismissal on Wrong Jurisdiction Ground: Life Insurance Corporation of India Ltd. vs Commissioner CGST & Central Excise (Appeal)
Background and Overview
A significant procedural ruling has emerged from the Orissa High Court concerning the rejection of a GST appeal solely on jurisdictional grounds, without any examination of the substantive merits of the case. The judgment addresses a critical administrative gap in the GST appellate mechanism and offers important relief to assessees who may have inadvertently approached the wrong appellate forum.
The case involved Life Insurance Corporation of India Limited, a large public sector entity with offices spread across multiple states, which found itself in a procedurally precarious position after its appeal was summarily dismissed by the appellate authority at Bhubaneswar — not on merits, but purely because it was filed before the "wrong jurisdiction."
This ruling has broad implications for assessees operating across multiple jurisdictions under the GST framework, particularly where a single common order covers operations in several states or union territories.
Facts of the Case
The Original Order and Appeal Filing
The dispute originated from an Order-in-Original dated 28th January 2025, passed by the Additional Commissioner under Section 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (collectively referred to as "the GST Act"). A summary of this order was subsequently issued on 4th February 2025 by the Commissioner, Bhubaneswar IV Circle.
A crucial aspect of this matter is that the Order-in-Original was a common order, covering Life Insurance Corporation of India's offices located in different parts of the country. It was not a state-specific or circle-specific order, but one that had pan-India applicability across the LIC's operational structure.
For the portion of the order pertaining to the State of Odisha, the assessee filed an appeal on 27th April 2025 before the Commissioner, CGST & Central Excise (Appeal), Bhubaneswar, invoking the provisions of Section 107 of the GST Act.
The Impugned Appellate Order
The Commissioner (Appeals), Bhubaneswar, rejected the appeal on 30th May 2025, recording only that it was "filed in wrong jurisdiction." No findings were rendered on the merits of the underlying demand or the legal objections raised by the assessee. The appellate authority did not examine the correctness of the original order passed under Section 74 of the GST Act, nor did it assess whether the assessee had any valid grounds of challenge.
The assessee contended that this rejection was made without proper application of mind and without affording any meaningful opportunity to address the jurisdictional issue. Accordingly, a writ petition was filed before the Orissa High Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, challenging the appellate order dated 30th May 2025 (Annexure-9).