GST| Appeal Cannot Be Dismissed As Not Maintainable For Non-Payment Of Fee: P&H High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court clarified that an appeal under GST law cannot be dismissed by Appellate Authority for Advance as not maintainable solely due to non-payment of the requisite fee.
The matter arose when the Appellate Authority dismissed an appeal, citing that the assessee had failed to deposit the required fee for hearing the appeal. While the assessee was obligated to pay a total fee of Rs. 20,000, only Rs. 10,000 had been deposited.
The Appellate Authority ruled that the appeal was incomplete due to the non-deposition of the full fee, as mandated under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law. In response, the assessee challenged this order before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
A Division Bench of Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjay Vashisth held that an appeal should not be dismissed merely for non-payment of the requisite fee. It said, “on account of the non-payment of the requisite fee, an appeal cannot be dismissed as not maintainable, and in fact, before the Appellate Authority takes up an appeal, the appellant should be informed of any deficiency and be given a chance to deposit and remove the deficiency, if any.”
Advocate Aashna Gill appeared for the Petitioner and Advocate Mamta Singla Talwar appeared for the Respondents.
The Court, therefore, directed the Appellate Authority to consider the appeal on its merits. The assessee was ordered to deposit the remaining fee, and the petition was allowed.
Cause Title: M/s. Imaging Solutions (P) Ltd. v. State of Haryana & Ors., [2024:PHHC:138161-DB]
