The Madras High Court recently addressed a case involving M/s Sri Amman and Co., where the petitioner contested an appellate order that dismissed its GST appeal as time-barred. The initial assessment under the GST Act had been confirmed despite the petitioner filing a response to the show cause notice, leading to recovery actions including the attachment of the petitioner's bank account. The appellate authority dismissed the statutory appeal solely on the grounds of limitation, even though the mandatory pre-deposit had been made by the petitioner. Seeking relief from the denial of a merits-based adjudication and the coercive recovery measures, the petitioner approached the High Court.

The primary issue was whether the High Court could use its writ jurisdiction to provide relief against the rejection of a GST appeal due to limitation and remit the case for fresh consideration with specific conditions. The High Court decided to set aside the appellate order that dismissed the appeal on limitation grounds. The assessment order was considered an addendum to the show cause notice, and the case was remanded for a fresh evaluation on its merits. The court instructed the petitioner to make an additional deposit of 40% of the disputed tax, in addition to what had already been paid, within a specified timeframe.

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Furthermore, the assessing authority was required to provide a personal hearing and issue a reasoned order promptly. Upon the petitioner meeting the deposit condition, the court also directed that the bank account attachment be lifted, providing some relief to the petitioner.