HC orders Appellate Authority to re-examine cancellation of GST Registration

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Case Details: BBCL Infrastructure v. State of U.P. - [2023] 148 taxmann.com 138 (Allahabad)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Rohit Ranjan Agarwal, J.
  • Anand Shankar Dubey, Ankit Saran, Rakesh Kumar Garg & Yash Garg for the Petitioner.
  • C.S.C. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was engaged in the business of bangles and artificial ornaments. The department issued show cause notice to petitioner for cancellation of registration on ground that he had not filed return for a period of six months. The said show cause notice remained unattended and the order cancelling registration was passed. It filed appeal against cancellation order which had been rejected by computer-generated format order on ground of delay. It filed writ petition against the impugned order.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court observed that the appeal was rejected by computer-generated order on ground of delay and reason had not been discussed by Appellate Authority. Moreover, the opportunity of hearing was not provided. The Court noted that the GST law was introduced and implemented to facilitate smooth functioning of trade and commerce and cancellation of registration would only lead to more evasion of taxes. Since, the Appellate Authority is quasi-judicial authority therefore, it must follow principles of natural justice and provide opportunity of being heard before deciding appeals.

The Court also noted that when a new taxing regime has been enforced, which is only five years old then such drastic step of cancellation of registration should be avoided to the maximum extent. Thus, the Court held that the impugned order was liable to be set aside and the Appellate Authority was directed to decide the appeal afresh after giving opportunity of hearing.