The court granted the petitioner liberty to challenge an unsigned tax order through the statutory appellate process, allowing for a delay condonation application and the required pre-deposit.

ORDER:

Learned counsel Ms. Akruti Goyal appears for the petitioner.

Sri K.Sai Akarsh, learned Assistant Government Pleader representing Sri Swaroop Oorilla, learned Special Government Pleader for State Tax, appears for respondents No.1 and 2.

2. The writ petition has been preferred against the order dated 31.12.2023 along with the proceedings in Form GST DRC-07 dated 31.12.2023 and the show cause notice and Form GST DRC-01 dated 01.06.2022 issued by respondent No.1 under Section 73 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, for the tax period July 2017 to March 2018.

3. The petitioner has approached this court alleging that impugned show cause notice and the order are unsigned documents and they are not valid or authentic.

4. However, after some arguments, learned counsel for the petitioner seeks liberty to the petitioner to prefer an appeal against the impugned order. She submits that some delay might have been occurred in approaching the appellate authority and therefore, the appellate authority may be directed to consider it sympathetically.

5. Learned Assistant Government Pleader for State Tax submits that the petitioner was at liberty to prefer an appeal against the impugned order taking all the grounds as are available in law and on facts before the appellate authority in respect of the subject tax period.

6. However, upon hearing the learned counsel for the parties, since the petitioner seeks liberty to prefer an appeal, we do not wish to comment on the merits of the contentions raised by the parties.

7. We grant liberty to the petitioner to prefer an appeal within a period of two weeks with statutory pre-deposit and a delay condonation application. The petitioner may take all such grounds of law and facts in the memo of appeal as are available to it. Needless to say, the appellate authority would consider the question of delay taking into account the aforesaid facts and circumstances and if he is satisfied on the point of delay, proceed to decide the appeal on merits in accordance with law.

8. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of with the aforesaid liberty. There shall be no order as to costs.

Miscellaneous applications pending, if any, shall stand closed.