In W.P. Nos.17522 & 17523 of 2020 - MAD HC - Submission of certified copy of order within seven days of filing appeal is procedural requirement under Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Rules, rules Madras High Court
Justice Abdul Quddhose [06-02-2023]

Read Order: M/s. PKV Agencies v. The Appellate Deputy Commissioner (GST) (Appeals) And Ors

Chahat Varma

New Delhi, May 31, 2023: The Madras High Court has ruled that the provision in Rule 108(3) of the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (TNGST Rules) requiring the submission of a certified copy of the impugned order within seven days of filing an appeal, is merely a procedural requirement.

Briefly stated issue involved the present matter was that the petitioner had filed a statutory appeal under section 107 of the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, electronically on time, but had failed to submit a hard copy of the impugned order to the respondents within seven days as required by Rule 108(3) of the TNGST Rules. It was only after a month from the date of the impugned order that the petitioner approached the respondents with a certified copy of the order, which was refused on the grounds of non-compliance with the seven-day submission requirement stated in the proviso to Rule 108(3).

Justice Abdul Quddhose placed reliance on the decision rendered by the Orissa High Court in the case of M/s. Atlas PVC Pipes Limited vs. State of Odisha and others [LQ/OriHC/2022/192], wherein the High Court has held that the requirement to furnish certified copy of the impugned order within seven days of filing of appeal was a procedural requirement.

“The merit of the matters in the Appeal filed by the petitioner should not have been sacrificed for non-compliance of a procedural requirement, which in the considered view of this Court is only a technical defect,” said Justice Abdul Quddhose.