A.5 The right of appeal, limitation and condonation — section 112(1) to (6)

A.5.1 What is appealable

Only an order passed under s.107 or s.108 — of the CGST Act, the SGST Act or the UTGST Act — is appealable to GSTAT (s.112(1)). That means an order of the Appellate Authority in first appeal, or of the Revisional Authority. An order-in-original is not appealable to GSTAT. It goes first to the Appellate Authority under s.107. This sounds elementary and is the commonest maintainability objection taken at the Registry stage.

Section 121 additionally makes certain decisions non-appealable altogether. There are four, and all of them bite at the threshold:

• (a) an order of the Commissioner or other authority directing transfer of proceedings from one officer to another;
• (b) an order pertaining to the seizure or retention of books of account, register and other documents;
• (c) an order sanctioning prosecution under the Act;
• (d) an order passed under s.80 — payment of tax and other amounts in instalments.

Note what this does and does not do. It bars an appeal against the listed orders; it does not immunise the underlying subject matter from ever being examined, and a grievance about seizure or retention is a matter for the writ jurisdiction rather than for GSTAT.