Appeals by the Department (CGST) before the FAA :
Para 5 above dealt with appeals filed by the party before the FAA. However, often the Department itself is not in agreement with the decision or order passed by the (initial) adjudicating authority. The model GST Law provides that in such cases, the Department can file what is commonly known as a “review application/appeal”.
The law in this regard is given in sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 79 – which is applicable only for CGST.
If the CGST Commissioner on examination of the case record is of the view that the decision or order passed by the adjudicating authority is not legal or proper, he can by order (known as “review order”) direct any CGST Officer subordinate to him to apply to the FAA for the determination of such points arising out of the said decision or order as may be specified in the review order. The resultant review application is required to be dealt with by the FAAas if it were an appeal made against the decision or order of the adjudicating authority and the statutory provisions relating to appeals shall, so far as may be, apply to such application.
By virtue of Section 79 (4), the above processes of review by the Commissioner and filing the resultant application by the authorized officer before the FAA have to be completed within a joint time-limit of 3 months, with another 1 month of condonable delay on sufficient cause being shown. Thus, the time limits are the same for party appeals and Revenue appeals.