Agenda of this article
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The article delves into the following two issues:
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Whether Order issued by GSTAT orders have, in effect, diluted the statutory limitation period prescribed under the CGST Act, thereby raising questions on administrative overreach versus purposive interpretation.
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Whether the limitation framework for filing departmental appeals against orders passed under Section 107 (appeal) or arising from proceedings under Section 108 (revision), particularly before GSTAT under Section 112, has been formally notified and made operational, or continues to remain uncertain due to delayed implementation.
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The GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) is envisaged as the missing pillar in the GST dispute justice structure, but ironically, even after 8 years of GST, the appeal filing timeline under Section 112 of CGST Act has been made unnecessarily intervened almost like the GSTAT decided to live up to its reputation of being “under construction”.
1. Section 112(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 clearly provides that any person aggrieved by an order under Section 107 or 108 may file an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal within three months from the date of communication of the order, or such later date as notified by the Government, whichever is later.
Sec 112(1) is reproduced as below:
Any person aggrieved by an order passed against him under section 107 or section 108 of this Act or the State Goods and Services Tax Act or the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act may appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against such order within three months from the date on which the order sought to be appealed against is communicated to the person preferring the appeal or the date, as may be notified by the Government, on the recommendations of the Council, for filing appeal before the Appellate Tribunal under this Act, whichever is later.
2. The Government has exercised its power under Section 112(1) by issuing Notification S.O. 4220(E) dated 17-09-2025, notifying that:
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- the order sought to be appealed against is communicated before 01-04-2026, appeals may be filed up to 30-06-2026, and
- the order sought to be appealed against is communicated on or after 01-04-2026, appeals may be filed within three months from communication.
Notification S.O. 4220(E) dated 17-09-2025 is reproduced as below:
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 112 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (12 of 2017), the Government, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby notifies the 30th day of June, 2026, as the date upto which appeal may be filed before the Appellate Tribunal under this Act in respect of all cases where the order sought to be appealed against is communicated to the person preferring the appeal before the 1st day of April, 2026 and all appeals in respect of order communicated on or after 1st April, 2026 may be filed before the Appellate Tribunal within three months from the date on which such order is communicated to the person preferring the appeal.
Authors’ Note – It is clear that this notification is issued u/s 112(1) and therefore the time line for filing application in APL-07 by department ( for simplicity, it is referred to as department appeal) is yet not notified. It is kept open for them.
3. Despite the clarity brought by the Notification, the President of GSTAT issued an order dated 24-09-2025 under Rule 123 of the GSTAT (Procedure) Rules, 2025 (hereinafter it is referred to as Rule 123), directing that appeals MAY be filed in a staggered time line according to a table given in the said order itself.
It may be noted that this order uses the word ‘MAY’, which itself shows that Order issued under rule 123 of GSTAT (Procedure) Rules is just guiding and authority issuing this order also knows the legal sanctity of this order.
Rule 123 is reproduced as below:
Notwithstanding anything contained in the rules, wherever the rules are silent or no provisions have been made, the President may issue APPROPRIATE DIRECTIONS TO REMOVE DIFFICULTIES and ISSUE SUCH ORDERS OR CIRCULARS TO GOVERN THE SITUATION OR CONTINGENCY THAT MAY ARISE IN THE WORKING OF THE APPELLATE TRIBUNAL.
Authors’ Note- It is clear from the reading that Rule 123 is not meant for providing any date of filing the appeal.
4. Subsequently, another order dated 16-12-2025 issued under rule 123 of GSTAT (Procedure) Rules revoked the earlier staggered filing directive with effect from 18-12-2025, implying that the initial staggered filing protocol was perhaps an administrative response to portal capacity limitations rather than a legally sustainable framework.
5. It is a settled principle that subordinate legislation (here Rule 123) cannot override statutory provisions (here it is Sec 112(1) giving the power to government to notify the date of filing the appeal), and any delegated provision must remain within the scope of the parent statute—otherwise it becomes ultra vires.
6. Rule 123 empowers the President to issue directions to remove procedural difficulties where the rules are silent; however, Rule 123 cannot be used to override Section 112(1) or a Government Notification issued under statutory authority, as procedural directions cannot substitute delegated legislative action.
7. Courts have repeatedly held that executive instructions or administrative orders cannot amend, curtail or extend rights and liabilities created under statutory rules. Therefore, GSTAT orders issued under Rule 123 may regulate portal workflow, but they cannot legally reset or override the limitation timeline provided by Notification issued under Section 112(1).
Conclusion:
- Accordingly, the only legally binding timeline for filing GSTAT appeal by any aggrieved person is provided in Notification S.O. 4220(E) dated 17-09-2025 (Refer Point No. 2 of this article)
- Timeline for filing the department appeal u/s 112(3) in form APL-07 is yet not notified which indicates that government has not a strong intention to resolve the dispute quickly.