Supreme Court to Decide Validity of GST Time Limit Extensions Under Section 168A Amid Legal Challenge
Last Updated on February 27, 2025 by Srijan Raj
The Supreme Court is set to decide whether the time limit for adjudicating show cause notices and passing orders under Section 73 of the GST Act can be extended through notifications issued under Section 168A. This provision allows the government to extend time limits due to force majeure.
A batch of petitions was filed before the Telangana High Court challenging the validity of Notification Nos. 13/2022, 9/2023, and 56/2023. The petitioners argued that the notifications were issued without any force majeure conditions and that COVID-19 relaxations ended on 28.02.2022. The High Court ruled that the period between 15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 was already excluded from the limitation period by a Supreme Court order, making the challenge to the notifications “academic.”
Key issues include whether Section 168A can be invoked to extend the time limit for adjudication under Section 73, whether the requirement of GST Council recommendation fulfilled for issuing Notification No. 56/2023, and whether the concept of ‘ratification’ by the Council after issuing the notification makes it valid.
