Amended and updated notes on section 109 of CGST Act, 2017. Detail discussion on provisions and rules related to constitution of Appellate Tribunal and Benches thereof.
Chapter XVIII (Sections 107–121) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 deals with the provisions related to appeals and revision. Section 109 of CGST 2017 provides for constitution of Appellate Tribunal and Benches thereof.
Recently, we have discussed in detail section 108 (Powers of Revisional Authority) of CGST Act 2017. Today, we learn the provisions of section 109 of Central GST Act 2017.
Section 109 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 has been notified by the Ministry of Finance vide Notification No. 9/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 658(E), dated 28.06.2017. This notification was come into force from 1st July, 2017 i.e. the commencement date of section 109 is 1-7-2017.
| Name of Act | The Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 |
|---|---|
| Enacted by | Parliament of India |
| Administered by | Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs |
| Governing body | GST Council |
| Number of Chapters | 21 |
| Number of Sections | 174 |
| You are reading: | |
| Chapter No. | XVIII |
| Chapter Name | Appeals and Revision |
| Section No. | 109 |
| Section Name | Constitution of Appellate Tribunal and Benches thereof |
| Updated 2024 Edition | GST Law Book PDF |
Section 109 of Central GST – Constitution of Appellate Tribunal and Benches thereof1
Section 109 of CGST Act 2017 shall come into force on 01.07.2017 vide Notification No. 9/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 658(E), dated 28.06.2017.
Section 109(1) of CGST Act
Section 109(1): The Government shall, on the recommendations of the Council, by notification, constitute with effect from such date as may be specified therein, an Appellate Tribunal known as the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by the Appellate Authority or the Revisional Authority.
Section 109(2) of CGST Act
Section 109(2): The powers of the Appellate Tribunal shall be exercisable by the National Bench and Benches thereof (hereinafter in this Chapter referred to as “Regional Benches”), State Bench and Benches thereof (hereafter in this Chapter referred to as “Area Benches”).
Section 109(3) of CGST Act
Section 109(3): The National Bench of the Appellate Tribunal shall be situated at New Delhi which shall be presided over by the President and shall consist of one Technical Member (Centre) and one Technical Member (State).
Section 109(4) of CGST Act
Section 109(4): The Government shall, on the recommendations of the Council, by notification, constitute such number of Regional Benches as may be required and such Regional Benches shall consist of a Judicial Member, one Technical Member (Centre) and one Technical Member (State).
Section 109(5) of CGST Act
Section 109(5): The National Bench or Regional Benches of the Appellate Tribunal shall have jurisdiction to hear appeals against the orders passed by the Appellate Authority or the Revisional Authority in the cases where one of the issues involved relates to the place of supply.
Section 109(6) of CGST Act
Section 109(6): The Government shall, by notification, specify for each State or Union territory, a Bench of the Appellate Tribunal (hereafter in this Chapter, referred to as “State Bench”) for exercising the powers of the Appellate Tribunal within the concerned State or Union territory:
[Provided that the Government shall, on receipt of a request from any State Government, constitute such number of Area Benches in that State, as may be recommended by the Council:] – First proviso of section 109(6) was omitted by the w.e.f. 30th June 2020 vide Notification No. 49/2020-Central Tax, G.S.R. 402(E), dated 24.06.2020.
Provided further that the Government may, on receipt of a request from any State, or on its own motion for a Union territory, notify the Appellate Tribunal in a State to act as the Appellate Tribunal for any other State or Union territory, as may be recommended by the Council, subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed.
Section 109(7) of CGST Act
Section 109(7): The State Bench or Area Benches shall have jurisdiction to hear appeals against the orders passed by the Appellate Authority or the Revisional Authority in the cases involving matters other than those referred to in sub-section (5).
Section 109(8) of CGST Act
Section 109(8): The President and the State President shall, by general or special order, distribute the business or transfer cases among Regional Benches or, as the case may be, Area Benches in a State.
Section 109(9) of CGST Act
Section 109(9): Each State Bench and Area Benches of the Appellate Tribunal shall consist of a Judicial Member, one Technical Member (Centre) and one Technical Member (State) and the State Government may designate the senior most Judicial Member in a State as the State President.
Section 109(10) of CGST Act
Section 109(10): In the absence of a Member in any Bench due to vacancy or otherwise, any appeal may, with the approval of the President or, as the case may be, the State President, be heard by a Bench of two Members:
Provided that any appeal where the tax or input tax credit involved or the difference in tax or input tax credit involved or the amount of fine, fee or penalty determined in any order appealed against, does not exceed five lakh rupees and which does not involve any question of law may, with the approval of the President and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed on the recommendations of the Council, be heard by a bench consisting of a single member.
Section 109(11) of CGST Act
Section 109(11): If the Members of the National Bench, Regional Benches, State Bench or Area Benches differ in opinion on any point or points, it shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority, if there is a majority, but if the Members are equally divided, they shall state the point or points on which they differ, and the case shall be referred by the President or as the case may be, State President for hearing on such point or points to one or more of the other Members of the National Bench, Regional Benches, State Bench or Area Benches and such point or points shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority of Members who have heard the case, including those who first heard it.
Section 109(12) of CGST Act
Section 109(12): The Government, in consultation with the President may, for the administrative convenience, transfer—
- (a) any Judicial Member or a Member Technical (State) from one Bench to another Bench, whether National or Regional; or
- (b) any Member Technical (Centre) from one Bench to another Bench, whether National, Regional, State or Area.
Section 109(13) of CGST Act
Section 109(13): The State Government, in consultation with the State President may, for the administrative convenience, transfer a Judicial Member or a Member Technical (State) from one Bench to another Bench within the State.
Section 109(14) of CGST Act
Section 109(14): No act or proceedings of the Appellate Tribunal shall be questioned or shall be invalid merely on the ground of the existence of any vacancy or defect in the constitution of the Appellate Tribunal.
The CG vide Notification No. S.O. 3009(E) dated 21-8-2019, in exercise of the powers conferred by the sub section (6) of section 109, on the recommendation of the GST Council, hereby notifies the creation of the State Benches of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) as per the details contained in the table 1 below and Area Benches as per the details contained in table 2 below, with effect from 21st August, 2019:—
TABLE-1
| S. No. | Name of State/ Union Territory | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | Vijayawada |
| 2 | Bihar | Patna |
| 3 | Chhattisgarh | Raipur |
| 4 | Delhi | New Delhi |
| 5 | Goa | Panaji |
| 6 | Gujarat | Ahmedabad |
| 7 | Haryana | Hisar |
| 8 | Himachal Pradesh | Shimla |
| 9 | Jharkhand | Ranchi |
| 10 | Karnataka | Bengaluru |
| 11 | Kerala | Thiruvananthapuram |
| 12 | Maharashtra | Mumbai |
| 13 | Odisha | Cuttack |
| 14 | Puducherry | Pondicherry |
| 15 | Punjab | Chandigarh |
| 16 | Tamil Nadu | Chennai |
| 17 | Telangana | Hyderabad |
| 18 | Tripura | Agartala |
| 19 | Uttarakhand | Dehradun |
| 20 | West Bengal | Kolkata |
| 21 | Assam | Guwahati |
| 22 | Arunachal Pradesh | Guwahati |
| 23 | Manipur | Guwahati |
| 24 | Nagaland | Guwahati |
| 25 | Sikkim | Guwahati |
| 26 | Andaman & Nicobar | State Bench of West Bengal (Kolkata) |
| 27 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | State Bench of Maharashtra (Mumbai) |
| 28 | Daman & Diu | State Bench of Maharashtra (Mumbai) |
| 29 | Lakshadweep | State Bench of Kerala (Ernakulum) |
| 30 | Chandigarh | State Bench of Punjab (Chandigarh) |
TABLE-2
| S. No. | Name of State | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | One Area Bench each at Vishakhapatnam and Tirupati |
| 2 | Gujarat | One Area Bench each at Surat and Rajkot |
| 3 | Maharashtra | One Area Bench each at Pune and Nagpur |
| 4 | West Bengal | Two Area Benches at Kolkata |
- Section 109 of CGST Act 2017 shall come into force on 01.07.2017 vide Notification No. 9/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 658(E), dated 28.06.2017. ↩︎