India CGST Act: Legal rulings clarify service of orders and appeal procedures

Recent legal developments in India regarding the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017, have clarified procedures for the service of orders and the maintainability of appeals.

The Allahabad High Court, in the case of Bambino Agro Industries Ltd. v. State of Uttar Pradesh, addressed whether uploading an adjudication order to the GST portal or sending an email alert constitutes sufficient service to trigger limitation periods. The court held that while portal uploads and emails complete the dispatch of an order, they do not satisfy the deeming provisions of Section 169 for completed service. Under this interpretation, the limitation period for filing an appeal runs from the date the assessee actually becomes aware of the order, rather than the date of the digital upload.

Separately, the Chennai Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) ruled in Pankajam Plastics vs Muthiah Athinarayanan & Ors that an appeal to the tribunal is not maintainable if the First Appellate Authority has not yet issued an order. The tribunal noted that under Section 112(1) of the CGST Act, an appeal to the tribunal is permitted only for a person aggrieved by an order passed under Section 107 or 108. The appellant was granted liberty to file a fresh appeal once the proper legal sequence is followed.