Delhi Enterprises Vs Sales Tax Officer (Supreme Court of India)
The proceedings arose from the challenge to the retrospective cancellation of a GST registration by an order dated 3 October 2023. The petitioner contended that the Show Cause Notice (SCN) preceding the cancellation did not contemplate retrospective cancellation and, therefore, the impugned order was untenable.
Read HC Judgment in this case: Delhi HC Dismissed Writ Petition as GST Appeal Barred by Limitation
Before the Delhi High Court, the respondent department pointed out that the petitioner had already availed the statutory appellate remedy. An appeal against the cancellation order was filed before the Appellate Authority but was dismissed on 3 September 2024 as barred by limitation. The petitioner thereafter challenged the appellate order through a writ petition (W.P.(C) 13679/2024), which was dismissed by a Coordinate Bench on 7 February 2025, again on the ground that the appeal was time-barred and hence not entertainable.
In its detailed judgment, the Coordinate Bench recorded the factual background. The petitioner firm had been registered on 13 March 2020 and claimed to have regularly filed GST returns for subsequent financial years. Due to confusion regarding the firm’s address in an unauthorised area lacking a formal address system, the GST inspector could not locate the premises. On this basis, an online SCN was issued stating that the firm could not be traced and that the address appeared incomplete. Subsequently, the GST registration was cancelled retrospectively with effect from the date of registration. Although the petitioner filed an appeal after learning of the cancellation, the Appellate Authority dismissed it for delay.
