In Special Civil Application No. 5731 of 2023 -GUJ HC- Gujarat High Court clarifies that filing of appeal electronically does not depend on uploading of order on GSTN Portal
Justice Biren Vaishnav & Justice Devan M. Desai [07-08-2023]

Read Order: Britannia Industries Limited V. Union of India

Chahat Varma

New Delhi, August 17, 2023: In a recent development, the Gujarat High Court has rejected the argument put forth by Britannia Industries Limited (petitioners), that their inability to electronically file an appeal was justified by the Orders-In-Original not being uploaded on the GSTN Portal.

The bench of Justice Biren Vaishnav and Justice Devan M. Desai referred to the case of Gujarat State Petronet Limited v. Union of India [LQ/GujHC/2020/1041], wherein it was noted that the order had been served and the subsequent appeal had been filed manually. The court had acknowledged that the only mode available was of filing the appeal electronically, which can be availed of only when the order was uploaded. However, the bench stated that the judgment should not be misconstrued to suggest that an appeal cannot be filed unless the order was uploaded.

The bench further placed reliance on Assistant Commissioner (CT) LTU, Kakinada & Ors. v. M/s. Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Health Care Limited [LQ/SC/2020/477]. In that case, it was clarified that while Rule 108 mandates electronic filing of appeals, it does not explicitly state that such filing must occur exclusively after the impugned order is uploaded on the GSTN Portal. The date of communication of the order via email was accepted as the relevant date for establishing communication and limitation purposes.

Thus, the bench concluded that in both the petitions, Special Civil Applications No. 4876 and 5731 of 2023, the petitioners had filed their appeals after the recovery orders had already been issued. Despite being aware of the orders due to manual service on dates 31.3.2021 and 29.4.2021, the fact that the orders were subsequently uploaded did not exempt their appeals from being considered time-barred.