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IndiaAuditLens Law Library

Section 157 of the CGST Act, 2017

From the IndiaAuditLens Law Library

GST›CGST Act, 2017›Chapter XXI, Miscellaneous

At a glance

Bars, duties and time limits

  • 157(1)No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding lies against the Tribunal’s President, State President, members, officers, employees or authorised persons for good-faith acts done or intended under the Act or rules.
  • 157(2)The same good-faith protection covers officers appointed or authorised under the Act.

Procedure, powers and definitions

  • 157The law does not settle what establishes good faith for this protection.

Specified Tribunal personnel and authorised persons, and officers appointed or authorised under the Act, have protection from legal proceedings for good-faith acts under the Act or rules. The protection also covers intended acts. Its condition is good faith, but the section supplies no test for deciding whether a particular act or intention satisfies that condition.[1]

Text

The text below is the section as served by the CBIC tax information portal on 17 September 2026, with the portal's own amendment footnote markers (shown as small numerals before a bracket) and its footnotes.[1] The Act as published in the Gazette of India is the legal source.

Section 157, verbatim (show)

* Section 157. Protection of action taken under this Act.-

(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the President, State President, Members, officers or other employees of the Appellate Tribunal or any other person authorised by the said Appellate Tribunal for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rules made thereunder.

(2) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against any officer appointed or authorised under this Act for anything which is done or intended to be done in good faith under this Act or the rules made thereunder.

* Enforced w.e.f. 1st July, 2017.

Questions to answer on the file

Questions a reviewer answers from the engagement file, grouped by the part of the section they come from. They describe what the section asks; they do not decide it.

Protection for Tribunal-related persons 157

Questions to answer on the file6 questions
Ticks stay in this browser only.

Protection for officers under the Act 157

Questions to answer on the file6 questions
Ticks stay in this browser only.

Circulars and notifications

No circular or notification in the CBIC repository is recorded as citing this section.

Unsettled questions

The words of section 157 do not answer this question. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.

  1. What amounts to good faith in the act done or intended for this protection? The section supplies no test; interpretation and case-specific assessment remain with the auditor and competent court.

See also

References

  1. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Section 157. Protection of action taken under this Act". Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, CBIC tax information portal. Retrieved 17 September 2026.

External links