Next Era Enterprises Vs Deputy State Tax Officer (Telangana High Court)
Telangana High Court Allows Fresh Application for Revocation of GST Registration Cancelled for Non-Filing of Returns
The petitioner’s GST Registration Certificate was cancelled through Form GST REG-19 dated 25.03.2023 for non-filing of returns for a consecutive period of six months. The statutory period for filing an appeal against the cancellation order had expired, and the petitioner therefore approached the Telangana High Court seeking revocation of the cancellation. The petitioner submitted that business operations had been discontinued from January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that a part-time accountant had been instructed to apply for voluntary surrender of the GST registration. The petitioner later learned that the registration had instead been suo motu cancelled for non-filing of returns. As the GST portal did not permit filing a revocation application because the prescribed time limit had expired, the petitioner sought permission to submit the application manually. The State Tax Department stated that the registration was cancelled due to non-filing of returns for six consecutive months. The High Court granted liberty to the petitioner to approach the competent authority within one week to submit the revocation application online, or physically if online submission was not accepted for technical reasons. The authority was directed to entertain the application and decide it in accordance with law within three weeks thereafter.
