Facts of the Case: The petitioner’s goods were seized, and an order under Section 129(1) of the UP GST/CGST Act was passed. The petitioner filed Writ Tax No. 865 of 2019, wherein interim relief was granted for release of goods.  Separately, the petitioner preferred a statutory appeal under Section 107 of the Act. The appellate authority, by order dated 08.02.2020, allowed the appeal and quashed the penalty.

Subsequently, respondent no. 3 filed an application under Section 161 of the GST Act, seeking recall of the appellate order on the ground that a Special Leave Petition (SLP) had been filed before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Based on this application, the appellate authority recalled its earlier order. The petitioner challenged this rectification/recall order before the High Court.

Issue: Whether powers under Section 161 of the GST Act can be invoked to recall an appellate order already decided on merits, merely because an SLP has been filed before the Supreme Court.

Held that:

The High Court held as under:

• Section 161 of the GST Act is limited to rectification of mistakes apparent on the face of the record; it does not empower an authority to review or recall its own order.
• Mere filing of an SLP before the Supreme Court, in which no interim stay was granted, cannot be a ground to recall a valid appellate order.
• An “error apparent on the face of record” must be self-evident and should not require long reasoning or substitution of the original order.
• Reliance placed upon judgment in Deva Metal Powders Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Trade Tax (Supreme Court), wherein Court reiterated that rectification cannot amount to obliteration of the original order and substitution by a new one.

Accordingly, the rectification/recall orders passed under Section 161 were quashed, and the original appellate order dated 08.02.2020 in favour of the petitioner was restored. Both writ petitions were allowed.

Case Name: Opasil Pigments And Chemicals (P) Ltd., M/s Shyam Enterprises Versus State Of U.P. And 2 Others dated 04.09.2025

To read the complete judgment 2025 Taxo.online 2219