The Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), Principal Bench, has constituted and taken up a Special Bench to examine an important common question of law concerning whether the Tribunal has jurisdiction to condone delay beyond the statutory cap prescribed under Section 107(4) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
The issue arose in a batch of four appeals filed under Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017, which were taken up together by the Special Bench as they involve an identical legal question pending before several State Benches of the Tribunal. The order was passed on 1 July 2026 by a three-member Bench comprising Hon’ble Justice (Retd.) Dr. Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, President, GSTAT; Hon’ble Justice Mayank Kumar Jain, Member (Judicial); and Shri A. Venu Prasad, Member (Technical).
The central question before the Special Bench is whether GSTAT possesses jurisdiction to condone delay beyond the maximum condonable period provided under Section 107(4) of the CGST Act, 2017. Recognising the recurring nature and wider implications of the issue, the Special Bench has taken up the matter for a consolidated examination.
The batch before the Special Bench comprises Appeal/PB/D4/2025, Appeal/PB/D17/2026, Appeal/PB/12/2026 and Appeal/PB/D54/2026. The lead matter reflected in the order is Pattinam Chettiar Kalamkandavengai v. DSTO I, Thuraiyur Assessment Circle, D. Gunasekaran & Ors.
The Special Bench was informed that a substantial number of appeals raising the same question of law have already been filed or identified across various State Benches. According to the figures recorded in the order, 504 such appeals have been identified across nine Benches: 257 at Hyderabad, 75 at Bhopal, 46 at Kolkata, 35 at Chennai, 22 at Raipur, 21 at Guwahati, 17 at Ranchi, 16 at Vijayawada and 15 at Dehradun.
In view of the significant pendency involving the identical legal issue, the Tribunal has directed the Registry to immediately call for particulars of all such appeals from the respective State Benches and place them before the Special Bench on 20 July 2026.
The Registry has further been directed to issue a reminder to the Registries of all State Benches to identify every appeal involving the same question of law and submit the requisite particulars to the Principal Bench at the earliest. The direction indicates an effort to ensure coordinated consideration of a recurring legal issue affecting appeals across multiple GSTAT Benches.
The Special Bench has directed that the matter be listed for hearing on 20 July 2026. The proceedings are expected to have wider significance for GST appellate litigation involving first appeals filed beyond the limitation and condonable period contemplated under Section 107 of the CGST Act.
