Telangana HC upholds unsigned GST notices, dismisses 500 pleas

The Telangana High Court on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, dismissed over 500 petitions that challenged GST show-cause notices and assessment orders solely because the downloaded documents lacked a digital signature, The Times of India and The Hindu report. The aggregate State GST liability involved is around Rs 1,500 crore, The Times of India says. The full bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justices N. Tukaramji and G.M. Mohiuddin ruled that portal-generated notices cannot be invalidated merely for being unsigned.

The petitioners, including merchants and firms, argued that unsigned notices were legally unenforceable. The state government countered that officers can issue notices only after logging into the GST portal with a digital key, and that the GST Network had clarified in September 2024 that such documents do not require physical signatures. The court granted the petitioners two weeks either to clear the dues or to challenge the judgment in appeal. Separately, the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal has introduced an online mechanism to transfer appeals involving identical legal questions across benches, Livemint reports, noting that 504 such appeals were identified across nine state benches, with Hyderabad accounting for 257 of them.

Update, 3 October 2026: Livemint reports that the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) has introduced an online mechanism for taxpayers with multiple GST registrations to transfer appeals involving identical legal questions pending before different benches. The principal bench identified 504 such appeals across nine state benches, with Hyderabad accounting for 257 of them. The development is separate from the Telangana High Court ruling and addresses procedural consolidation at the appellate level.