Order Date – 18 July 2023

Parties: Savita Oil Technologies Ltd. And Savita Polymers Ltd. Vs The Union of India & Ors.

Facts – 

• The Petitioners, Savita Oil Technologies Ltd. And Savita Polymers Ltd. were issued with an intimation in Form GST DRC- 05. The petitioners have already deposited the disputed tax under protest and to that effect, the challans have already been issued to the petitioners.
• When the petitioners intended to file an appeal assailing such intimations by electronic means that is by using electronic portal, the petitioners could not file the same as the electronic portal did not have a window/ provision for an appeal to be filed in such cases.
• Accordingly, they approached respondent seeking permission to file an appeal manually, however, respondent did not accept manual filing of the appeals on the ground that appeals are required to be filed by using electronic portal. 

Issue – 

• Whether appeal can be filed against an intimation issued in Form DRC-05?

Order – 

• The Divisional Bench of Hon’ble High Court observed that the petitioners certainly have a legitimate right to file an appeal being aggrieved by intimations dated 17th/18th May 2022 issued in Form DRC- 05. Merely because electronic portal does not make a provision for filing of an appeal against an intimation issued in Form DRC-05, the petitioners cannot be faulted and for such technical reason, it cannot be countenanced that a statutory right of appeal available to the petitioners is rendered otiose.
• In the above circumstances, till an appropriate provision is made for acceptance of such appeal electronically, the filing of such appeal is required to be permitted by the manual method.
• Hence it was directed the respondent to accept an appeal of the petitioners on the same being filed manually.

#Need for GST in India