Appellate order rejecting the appeal without providing proper reasons is invalid under Section 107(12)

The Hon'ble Calcutta High Court in Indrani Dhar and Anr. v. State of West Bengal and Ors. [WPA No. 20674 of 2025 Order dated November 11, 2025] set aside the appellate order ("the Impugned order") under Section 107(12) of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 ("the WBGST Act") on the ground that the impugned order was passed without applying mind to the statement of facts or to the grounds of appeal.

Facts:

Ms. Indrani Dhar("the Petitioner")received a demand order by the adjudicating authority under Section 107 of the WBGST Act. The petitioner appealed against the demand order before the appellate authority. At the same time, the appeal was rejected by the impugned order dated June 26, 2025. Aggrieved by the same, the petitioner filed this petition.

The petitioner submitted that the demand order could not have been passed against the petitioner since he was merely the agent of the supplier and not the supplier itself. He also submitted documents to the adjudicating authority through a letter in support of his arguments. Hence, the Petitioner contended that despite those documents having been bought on record, the adjudicating authority proceeded to pass the adjudication order against the petitioners.

Whereas, the respondent submitted that although the said letter had been taken note of by the adjudicating authorities, but those documents were never uploaded to the GST Portal.

Issues:

Whether an appellate order rejecting the appeal be passed without providing proper reasons?

Held:

The Hon'ble Calcutta High Court in WPA No. 20674 of 2025 held as under:

• Noted that, the appellate order, which spreads over two pages, provides no reason to support the ultimate conclusion that the appellate authority has reached. The first page and more than a half of the second page of the two pages order have been devoted to note a brief history of the case, statement of facts, grounds of appeal and the prayer. The only paragraph that has been written by the appellate authority in support of his conclusion falls short of even a modicum of reasoning.
• Observed that, Section 107(12) of the WBGST Act mandates that reasons must be provided to support the ultimate decision. Even otherwise, reasons have been held to be the live link between the narrative and the directive. Without proper reasoning, the order shall be void.
• Held that, the appellate authority has not applied his mind to the matter at all and has dittoed the order passed by the adjudicating authority without delving into the facts of the case before him. The statement of facts and the grounds of appeal presented by the petitioner do not appear to have been considered by the appellate authority at all in reaching the conclusion that he has by the impugned order.
• Held, that the impugned order is wholly unreasoned and the same therefore cannot sustain scrutiny of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The Court remanded the matter back to the appellate authority for fresh consideration of the appeal, in accordance with law.

Our Comments:

Section 107(12) of the WBGST Act:

(12) The order of the Appellate Authority disposing of the appeal shall be in writing and shall state the points for determination, the decision thereon and the reasons for such decision.

Giving a pari materia judgment, the Hon'ble Kerala High Court inSt. Antony Trading and Transport Pvt. Limited v. Joint Commissioner [WP(C) NO. 14743 OF 2025 order dated April 8, 2025]set aside the appellate order and remanded the matter back to the appellate authority for fresh adjudication on merit. The Hon'ble High Court observed that Section 107(12) of the CGST Act specifically states that the order of the Appellate Authority disposing of the appeal shall be in writing and shall state the points for determination and the reasons for the decision. In the light of sub-clause (12) of Section 107 of the CGST Act, it is evident that the Appellate Authority has to consider the matter on merits and is not entitled to dismiss an appeal merely for non-appearance. Of course, when there is a failure of the appellant to appear, the Appellate Authority shall not grant more than three adjournments to a party during the hearing of the appeal. Despite the failure of an appellant to appear, the Appellate Authority has to pass an order after determining the points for consideration, and the decision should be on the merits.

OFFICIAL JUDGMENT COPY HAS BEEN ATTACHED