In the previous articles, we have covered how an appellant can raise an application to a higher court/authority for the reversal or revision of an order, as passed by a lower court/authority. In this article we will cover the basics of raising an application to the top tier authorities i.e. the High Court and the Supreme court.
Raising an Application to the High Court
High Court is the second-highest appeal forum available under GST i.e. if an appellant is unhappy with the outcome of a case (involving substantial question of law ) as prescribed by the Appellate Tribunal, the appellant can raise an appeal against the order to the High Court. However, it should be noted that the appeal should be raised within 6 months from the date of issuance of the order (against which the appeal is made).
It should be noted that cases involving a substantial question of law only are admissible for appeal in High Court. The High Court shall formulate the substantial question of law involved in any case and hear the appeals on the basis of the question, which is open for argument by the respondent at the time of hearing.
The High Court can decide on any issue which –
(a) has not been determined by the State Bench or Area Benches OR
(b) has been wrongly determined by the State Bench or Area Benches, due to the question of law raised.
For any appeal between 2 or more states or for the conflict of opinion between the State and the Centre, the cases will go directly to the Supreme Court.
Decision of the High Court
The hearing bench of a high court consists of at least 2 High Court Judges. For any order to be passed, the decision shall be made based on the majority. In case of no outcome due to difference in opinion, the case will be heard (limited to the point of conflict) by at least one other judge and a decision shall be taken on a majority basis, considering the opinions of both the original and new judges.
Raising an Application to the Supreme Court
Supreme, court is the topmost forum for a legal appeal under GST. For an appellant is not happy with the outcome of the appeal raised to the High Court, National Bench or Regional Benches, he can raise an appeal to the Supreme Court, subject to High Court’s certification for the application to be fit for appeal to the Supreme Court.
Also, as mentioned earlier, cases involving 2 states or conflict of opinion between the State and Centre will be automatically appealed to the Supreme Court.
Pre-Appeal conditions – Sums due to be paid
As per the GST appeal procedure to Supreme Court, for an appellant planning to raise an application to the Supreme Court, all sums due to the Government as per the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal or by the High Court needs to be paid before appealing to the Supreme Court.
To know about Legal Appeal system under GST, you can refer to our previous articles as follows:
Basics of Legal Appeal under GST
First Appellate Authority under GST
Appellate Tribunal
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