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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsUsually, not by itself. A CBIC circular issued under section 168 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act) can guide officers and allocate administrative work, but it does not independently create or transfer statutory jurisdiction. Whether an officer may take a particular step depends on the Act, applicable appointment or assignment instruments, jurisdictional limits and the function in question. Recent High Court decisions illustrate why the answer is fact-specific.
What does “authorize” mean in a GST jurisdiction dispute?
The word can refer to three different things. Keeping them separate is essential when assessing a notice or other action:
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- Creating legal authority: establishing that an officer or class of officers has a statutory power.
- Assigning a statutory function: designating an officer as the “proper officer” for a particular function where the law requires an assignment.
- Allocating administrative work: deciding which competent officer will handle a matter, or setting uniform procedures for officers who already have authority.
A circular may be relevant to the third category and may help explain how an existing assignment is applied. Its existence or wording alone does not answer whether the first or second category has been satisfied.
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What powers does the CGST Act provide?
Appointment, assignment and transfer are distinct statutory routes
In Katyani Exports Through Its Proprietor v. Union of India and Ors., the Delhi High Court examined sections 3, 5(3) and 167 of the CGST Act as the specific statutory routes relevant to appointing officers, vesting or assigning functions, and transferring functions between officers. It distinguished those jurisdiction-related mechanisms from section 168, which empowers the Board to issue orders, instructions and directions for uniform implementation of the Act.
The court’s conclusion was direct: “Thus, Section 168 does not independently confer, transfer or assign jurisdiction.” That statement was made in paragraph 22 of the judgment dated September 16, 2026, in the context of the provisions and circular before the court; it should not be detached from that context.
Section 2(91) and the “proper officer”
Section 2(91) defines a “proper officer” by reference to the Commissioner or a Central Tax officer assigned the relevant function by the Commissioner in the Board. The question is therefore not merely whether a person works for a GST authority, but whether the function at issue has been assigned to that officer through a legally sufficient route.
When a circular can still matter
In Katyani Exports, the court described Notification 2/2017 as assigning territorial jurisdiction to Central Tax officers and Notification 2/2022 as giving listed Additional or Joint Commissioners pan-India jurisdiction to adjudicate specified DGGI show-cause notices. Against that background, the challenged circular selected between officers already within the competent class using the highest-demand criterion for a composite notice. The court treated that selection as administrative allocation, not as a fresh grant of jurisdiction.
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This distinction is practical: a circular may direct how a matter is routed among officers whom the relevant statute and notifications already empower. It cannot supply a missing statutory basis merely by describing an officer as authorized. The instruments and the function must be checked for the particular case.
How have courts treated different GST functions?
The results below concern different powers and different instruments. They do not establish a blanket rule that circulars always—or never—authorize officers.
| Case and court | Function and instruments considered | Outcome and limit |
|---|---|---|
| Katyani Exports Through Its Proprietor v. Union of India and Ors. Delhi High Court, September 16, 2026 |
Adjudication of specified DGGI show-cause notices; the court considered Notification 2/2017, Notification 2/2022 and a circular allocating a composite notice by highest demand. | The court treated the circular as allocating work among officers already in the competent class, not as independently conferring jurisdiction. Its reasoning concerns the instruments and issue before it. |
| Ganapati Ispat v. Union of India Andhra Pradesh High Court, December 17, 2025 |
A penalty notice under section 122; the court considered Notification 2/2017 and whether it fixed territorial jurisdiction or automatically granted every listed officer every power in the Act. | The court set aside the notice and left open fresh action. It expressly did not decide the broader question of whether all officers had jurisdiction under Notification 2/2017, so the decision should not be read as resolving that question generally. |
| M/S R.C. Infra Digital Solutions v. Union of India Allahabad High Court, January 5, 2024 |
DGGI officers issuing summons under section 70; the court considered Notification 14/2017 and Board Circular 3/3/2017-GST. | On those facts, the court held the instruments supported the officers’ authority and rejected the argument that a separate section 167 notification was required for that function. The decision does not establish that a circular alone authorizes every enforcement or adjudication action. |
The cases turn on the statutory function, officer, notifications and assignments at issue. A result concerning section 70 summons, for example, does not itself settle whether an officer can issue a section 122 penalty notice or adjudicate a different class of show-cause notice.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is central–state GST cross-empowerment the same issue?
No. Cross-empowerment is a related but distinct legal route. Slm Stationery v. Union of India (Kerala High Court, March 5, 2025) discusses section 6 of the CGST Act and corresponding state-law provisions, which permit officers to act under the respective enactments in defined circumstances and subject to applicable notified conditions.
M/S Armour Security (India) Ltd. v. Commissioner, CGST, Delhi East (Delhi High Court, August 14, 2025) reproduces an administrative clarification taking the view that central and state officers may act under their respective enactments for intelligence-based enforcement in the described context, with notifications relevant where conditions are imposed. That cross-empowerment analysis should not be collapsed into the separate question whether a CBIC circular under section 168 independently creates jurisdiction.
How to check an officer’s authority in a particular notice
- Identify the exact act and function. Distinguish, for example, a summons, inspection, penalty proceeding or adjudication of a show-cause notice. Different functions may have different assignments.
- Identify the officer. Note the officer’s rank, department and statutory status; do not rely only on the name of the issuing agency.
- Find the legal basis for that function. Check the relevant CGST Act provision and the appointment or empowerment notification, then locate any function-specific proper-officer assignment that applies.
- Check the limits and dates. Verify territorial, pecuniary and subject-matter limits, as well as any special pan-India authority, for the relevant dates.
- Read the circular in context. Identify its source of power and what it actually directs. Ask whether it standardizes procedure or allocates a matter among officers already competent, or whether the claimed power rests on the circular alone.
- Check cross-empowerment where relevant. If an officer is acting across central and state GST administrations, examine the applicable statutory provisions and any conditions imposed by notification.
- Check precedent and later proceedings. Review binding authority in the relevant jurisdiction and distinguish its function, instruments and procedural posture from those in the notice being challenged.
This is a framework for examining jurisdiction, not a conclusion about any individual notice. The actual notice and the current text of the Act, notifications and circulars matter; the cited judgments describe particular instruments and disputes, and later appellate developments can affect how they apply.
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