NCLAT rejects Karnataka tax department's late GST claim in Doshion liquidation
The NCLAT on 29 October 2026 upheld the rejection of a Rs 8.10 lakh GST claim that a Karnataka tax office filed 896 days late in the liquidation of Doshion Private Limited.
Key points
- The NCLAT on 29 October 2026 dismissed an appeal by a Karnataka commercial taxes office in the liquidation of Doshion Private Limited.
- The office's GST claim of Rs 8,10,000 was filed 896 days after the last date for claims, the tribunal noted.
- The tribunal held that tax authorities must file claims within the insolvency code's timelines, even for disputed or unquantified dues.
Photo: Marcin Wichary from San Francisco, U.S.A. / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped). Representational image.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on 29 October 2026 upheld the rejection of a goods and services tax (GST) claim of Rs 8,10,000 that a Karnataka commercial taxes office filed in the liquidation of Doshion Private Limited. The tribunal held that the claim came 896 days after the last date for claims and that no sufficient cause was shown for the delay.
What Happened
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Ahmedabad Bench, ordered Doshion's liquidation on 3 October 2023, and the last date for claims was 8 November 2023, according to the order. The Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Audit)-I, Mangaluru, later found that the company had paid integrated GST on certain works contract services within Karnataka, instead of central and state GST. An adjudication order dated 21 February 2026 fixed a liability of Rs 8,10,000. The office filed its claim with the liquidator on 22 April 2026, and the liquidator rejected it as late on 2 May 2026. The NCLT dismissed the office's plea to condone the delay on 22 July 2026.
The NCLAT held that the liquidation rules give a liquidator no power to accept a claim after the last date. Under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), a claim exists even when it is disputed or not yet quantified, so the office could have filed it in time, the tribunal said. A Supreme Court ruling lets tax authorities assess dues during insolvency, but not reset the time for filing a claim, it added. The office knew of the liquidation, and waiting for its adjudication to finish was its own choice, the tribunal said.
What It Means
The tribunal said a statutory creditor stands in the same line as other operational creditors and gets no longer period because it is the State. Admitting a claim three years into a liquidation would force the liquidator to reopen verification and could affect payouts to creditors who met the deadline, it noted.
For creditors of any company in liquidation, the ruling underlines that claims should be filed by the date in the public announcement, even if the amount is still in dispute. The NCLAT's order may be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Source: NCLAT order
Sources & Citations
- NCLAT order — National Company Law Appellate Tribunal