Powers of Authority and Appellate Authority
Section 105, CGST Act
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Section 105 gives the AAR/AAAR the powers of a civil court (for discovery, evidence, etc.), and their proceedings are judicial proceedings.
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The exact words of the law
930 characters, uneditedReproduced from the CBIC text. We explain it above — but you should always be able to read it yourself.
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(1) The Authority or the Appellate Authority 2 [or the National Appellate Authority] shall, for the purpose of exercising its powers regarding-
(a) discovery and inspection;
(b) enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;
(c) issuing commissions and compelling production of books of account and other records, have all the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
(2) The Authority or the Appellate Authority 3 [or the National Appellate Authority] shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of section 195, but not for the purposes of Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and every proceeding before the Authority or the Appellate Authority shall be deemed to be a judicial proceedings within the meaning of sections 193 and 228, and for the purpose of section 196 of the Indian Penal Code.
What changed, and when
The amendment trail, newest first — because the version that applies to your case depends on the period.
date not stated · Substituted
Substituted by s.109 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 (23 of 2019) for "Powers of Authority and Appellate Authority." This amendment shall be effective from a d …
date not stated · Inserted
Inserted by s.109 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 (23 of 2019). This amendment shall be effective from a date to be notified.
date not stated · Inserted
Inserted by s.109 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 (23 of 2019). This amendment shall be effective from a date to be notified.
Where this comes from
Text reproduced from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, as available on 2026-09-05. The explanation and practice notes above are GSTZone’s own, written for this hub. If you spot anything out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it — this hub is checked daily against CBIC.
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