Telangana High Court Grants Liberty to Assessee for Filing Delayed GST Appeal Against Unsigned DRC-01 and DRC-07 Notices
The judicial landscape surrounding the Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework often witnesses disputes regarding procedural irregularities, such as the issuance of unsigned statutory notices and orders. In a recent judicial intervention, the Telangana High Court addressed such a grievance in the matter of Kakatiya Exports Vs Superintendent. The Court provided a pragmatic resolution by allowing the aggrieved assessee to pursue the statutory appellate remedy, coupled with a directive for the appellate authority to sympathetically evaluate the delay in filing.
Factual Matrix of the Dispute
The assessee initiated a writ petition before the High Court to contest a series of GST proceedings and the subsequent demands raised by the tax authorities. The core of the challenge revolved around the legal validity of specific documents issued by the department, which the assessee claimed were procedurally defective because they lacked authorized signatures.
The specific documents challenged in the writ petition included:
- The summary of the show cause notice issued in
Form GST DRC-01, dated 11.09.2023. - The Order-in-Original passed by the adjudicating authority, dated 26.12.2024.
- The summary of the final demand order issued in
Form GST DRC-07, dated 27.01.2025.