Jai Hind Enterprises Vs Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Karnataka High Court)
The Karnataka High Court, in Jai Hind Enterprises Vs Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, considered a challenge to the cancellation of the petitioner’s GST registration for failure to file GST returns for more than six months. The petitioner had obtained GST registration on 28.06.2023, received a show cause notice dated 05.02.2024 and a subsequent notice dated 25.02.2024, but did not respond. Consequently, the registration was cancelled on 02.04.2024. The petitioner contended that genuine circumstances prevented timely filing of returns and that cancellation of registration would result in loss of revenue to the Government. The respondents argued that revocation under Section 30 and appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act were subject to statutory time limits and that the writ petition was not maintainable due to the availability of an alternative remedy. The High Court referred to its earlier decisions holding that, although the Appellate Authority lacks power to condone delay beyond the prescribed period under Section 107, the High Court can exercise its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to condone delay in appropriate cases. Accepting the petitioner’s explanation relating to the illness and death of the petitioner’s mother as a sufficient cause, the Court partly allowed the writ petition. It permitted the petitioner to file an appeal before the Appellate Authority within four weeks from receipt of the order and directed that, if filed within that period, the appeal should be decided on merits without being rejected on the ground of limitation. The benefit of the order would lapse if the appeal was not filed within the stipulated four weeks.
