Delhi High Court Extends No Pre-Deposit Relief To Appeals Before GST Appellate Tribunal

The Case

MICROLYTE ENERGY PVT LTD & ANR. Vs GOODS AND SERVICES TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL & ANR.
Case No.: W.P.(C)/13380/2026
Decided on: 09/14/2026
CNR: DLHC010433622026 ·
High Court of Delhi

The Legal Issue

The Court decided whether the benefit of its earlier judgment in Gaurav Jain and Anr. v. Joint Commissioner (Appeals-II) CGST Delhi Zone & Anr., holding that where Show Cause Notices had been issued prior to 01.10.2025 in cases involving penalty the Appellate Authority was required to admit appeals without insisting upon pre-deposit, would extend to appeals required to be filed before the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal. The question was whether the subsequent amendment requiring pre-deposit would alter the right of the Petitioners to avail the appellate remedy in respect of proceedings initiated by SCNs issued prior to the amendment.

Facts of the Case

The present batch of nine (09) Writ Petitions was listed for hearing. In the present cases, the SCNs were issued prior to the amendment introducing the requirement of pre-deposit. The issue with regard to the requirement of pre-deposit in cases involving penalty is squarely covered by the judgment passed by this Court in W.P.(C) 8414/2026, captioned Gaurav Jain and Anr. v. Joint Commissioner (Appeals-II) CGST Delhi Zone & Anr., which was allowed on 31.07.2026. In the said judgment, this Court held that where the Show Cause Notices had been issued prior to 01.10.2025, in cases involving penalty, the Appellate Authority was required to admit the appeals without insisting upon pre-deposit, as the amendment could not be applied retrospectively in view of the judgment of the Supreme Court in Hoosein Kasam Dada (India) Ltd. v. State of Madhya Pradesh and Ors.

Summary of the Decision

The Court held that the subsequent amendment requiring pre-deposit would not alter the right of the Petitioners to avail the appellate remedy in respect of proceedings initiated by the SCNs issued prior to the amendment. It was also held that this is not dependent upon whether the appeal is a first appeal or a second appeal. Keeping in view the aforesaid discussion, the present Writ Petitions are disposed of, while directing GSTAT to permit the Petitioners to file their respective appeals without insisting upon pre-deposit, in cases involving penalty alone. With these observations, the present Writ Petitions stand disposed of. The pending applications also stand closed. A photocopy of the order passed today be kept in the connected matters.

This digest is for quick reference only and is not legal advice. Always verify against the full judgment.