The Thiruvananthapuram Bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal has set aside a first appellate order and the entire proceedings chain that led to it, in a case where the sole proprietor of the assessed entity died after the first appellate order was passed but before the second appeal was filed before the GSTAT. The ruling — Final Order No. 03/TVP/KERALA/2026 in APL/19/TVP/2026 (Vijayan Sahadevan, decided 21.08.2026) — holds that where a proprietor dies, the business is discontinued, and the Revenue proceeds to recover from the legal heir without first following the mandatory procedure under Section 93(1)(b) of the CGST Act (notice to the legal heir, establishment of the inherited estate available to meet the liability), the proceedings against the deceased are void and the OIA confirming them cannot stand.
The background is procedurally unusual. Vijayan Sahadevan had ITC denied for FY 2017-18 (GSTR-3B for March 2018 filed belatedly in June 2019), with an OIO passed in February 2022 and the first appellate order dismissing his appeal in December 2022. He died on 05.09.2024. His son filed an appeal before the GSTAT on 26.03.2026 as legal heir, within the extended deadline then applicable for GSTAT filings. The critical issue was: had the Revenue initiated any proceedings under Section 93(1)(b) — which governs recovery from a legal heir's estate where the business has been discontinued — before or after the proprietor's death? The answer was no. No notice had been sent to the legal heir. No inquiry into the deceased's estate had been made.
The Tribunal held that Section 93(1)(b) is a mandatory statutory gateway for any recovery from a legal heir where a business has been discontinued on the proprietor's death. The provision requires the Revenue to: (a) establish that the business was discontinued; (b) identify and notice the legal heir; (c) ascertain the estate of the deceased available to meet the liability; and (d) confine recovery to that estate. Where this procedure has not been followed, the Revenue simply has no case against the legal heir. The OIA was accordingly set aside.
As a bonus, the Tribunal also addressed the ITC merits. Section 16(5) — inserted retrospectively w.e.f. 01.07.2017 — saves ITC for FY 2017-18 where the return was filed on or before 30.11.2021. Vijayan Sahadevan's GSTR-3B for March 2018 was filed on 16.06.2019, well within this date. The Revenue's concession on the ITC point was accepted. The ruling is an important reminder that post-death GST proceedings require strict compliance with Section 93's procedural framework before any recovery is attempted.
2026-juristway.com-2296-GSTAT(Thiruvananthapuram)-GST | GST Appellate Tribunal (Thiruvananthapuram Bench) | APL/19/TVP/2026 | Final Order No. 03/TVP/KERALA/2026 | 21.08.2026