IMPORTANT POINT
The limitation period for filing an appeal under the UPGST Act begins the day after the communication of the order, and the interpretation of statutory time limits must ensure fairness and clarity for appellants.

JUDGMENT :

(Shekhar B. Saraf, J.) :

1. This is a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India wherein the petitioner is aggrieved by the order dated April 19, 2022 passed by the Assistant Commissioner, State Tax, Sector -7, Agra (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Respondent No. 2’), order dated July 12, 2022 passed by the Assistant Commissioner, State Tax, Sector – 5, Agra (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Respondent No. 3’), and the order dated November 24, 2022 passed by the first appellate authority. Vide order dated November 24, 2022, the appeal filed by the Petitioner was dismissed as time barred.

2. Facts of the instant case are briefly delineated below:

(a) Petitioner was granted registration certificate under the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the UPGST Act’).

(b) The aforesaid registration of the petitioner was cancelled by the Respondent No. 2 vide impugned order dated April 19, 2022.

(c) Thereafter, the Petitioner had filed an application for revocation of the cancellation of registration before the Respondent No. 3 which was rejected vide impugned order dated July 12, 2022.

(d) Aggrieved by the impugned order dated July 12, 2022 the Petitioner had filed an appeal under Section 107 of the UPGST Act. The first appellate authority vide order dated November 24, 2022 dismissed the said appeal as time barred. Relevant portions of the impugned order dated November 24, 2022 are extracted herein below:

3. I have heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties and perused the material on record.

4. In the instant writ petition, the primary issue that lies for the consideration of this Court is that “Whether the appeal filed by the Petitioner under Section 107 of the UPGST Act was within the statutory time limit?”

5. I have reproduced the relevant sub sections of Section 107 of the UPGST Act herein for ease of reference:

107. Appeals to Appellate Authority. — (1) Any person aggrieved by any decision or order passed under this Act or the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 by an adjudicating authority may appeal to such Appellate Authority as may be prescribed within three months from the date on which the said decision or order is communicated to such person.

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(4) The Appellate Authority may, if he is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from presenting the appeal within the aforesaid period of three months or six months, as the case may be, allow it to be presented within a further period of one month.”

6. Since the clock of limitation starts running “from the date on which the said order or decision is communicated to such person” it would be prudent to refer to Section 9 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘GC Act’) which provides as follows:

“9. Commencement and termination of time. —

(1) In any [Central Act] or Regulation made after the commencement of this Act, it shall be sufficient, for the purpose of excluding the first in a series of days or any other period of time, to use the word “from”, and, for the purpose of including the last in a series of days or any other period of time, to use the word “to”.

(2) This section applies also to all [Central Acts] made after the third day of January, 1868, and to all Regulations made on or after the fourteenth day of January, 1887.”

7. The phrase “from the date on which the said decision or order is communicated to such person” is crucial as it marks the starting point of the limitation period for filling an appeal. The legislative intent behind this provision is to ensure that the aggrieved party has a clear and fair understanding of the decision or order before the clock starts ticking for the appeal period.

8. Section 9 of the GC Act provides guidance on how to compute periods of time specified in statutes. Specifically, it indicates that when calculating a time period that starts with the word “from”, the day of the event from which the period begins is