Senior Citizen’s Appeal Delay Condoned Due to Consultant Reliance | HC

Case Details: Debapriya Chatterjee vs. State of West Bengal - [2026] 182 taxmann.com 140 (Calcutta)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Om Narayan Rai, J
• Himangshu Kumar Ray, Subhasis Podder & Gaurav Chakraborty, Advs. for the Petitioner.
• S.K. Dutta, Tanmoy Chakraborty & Saptak Sanyal, Advs. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner challenged the dismissal of his statutory appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act on the ground of limitation. The appeal against the adjudication order had been rejected as time-barred. The petitioner submitted that the relevant notices and the adjudication order had been uploaded on the GST portal under the head ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ and that he had relied upon his tax consultant and the e-mail ID of a third person for receiving communications. It was contended that, due to his advanced age and dependence on professional assistance, he could not independently track portal updates or e-mails, which led to the delay in filing the appeal. The matter was accordingly placed before the High Court.

High Court Held

The High Court held that the portal screenshots established that the notices and adjudication order had indeed been uploaded on the GST portal, and that no satisfactory cause was shown for failure to track communications, except the petitioner’s advanced age and reliance on his consultant. The Court accordingly condoned the delay on terms and directed that upon payment of costs, the order dismissing the appeal as time-barred would lose its effect and the appeal would stand restored before the Appellate Authority. It was held that upon such compliance, the attachment of the petitioner’s bank account under Section 83 was to be lifted.