GST Registration Cancellation: Appeal Remedy cannot be denied merely because Revocation Option was not opted

Smt. Shailaja Chandrashekar Vs Additional Commissioner of Central Tax (Appelas) (Karnataka High Court)

An Appeal u/s 107 of CGST Act against cancellation of GST registration cannot be denied solely because remedy u/s 30 of CGST Act was not exercised by the assessee

The Hon’ble Karnataka High Court in M/s Shailaja Chandrashekar v. Additional Commissioner of Central Tax (Appeals), [Writ Petition No. 17778/ 2022 (T-RES) dated October 13, 2022] held that an Appeal under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”) against the cancellation of a GST registration cannot be disregarded just because the assessee did not avail the remedy under Section 30 of the CGST Act.

Facts:

M/s Shailaja Chandrashekar (“the Petitioner”) filed a writ petition in the Hon’ble High Court, alleging that the Respondents during a lockdown due to the COVID- 19 pandemic issued an Order dated April 13, 2020, revoking or cancelling the Petitioner’s GST registration. The Petitioner could not prefer an Appeal within prescribed period because of the ongoing COVID- 19 pandemic. Petitioner could only prefer an Appeal before the Appellate Authority on March 30, 2022 and the Appellate Authority vide its Order dated April 22, 2022 dismissed the same on the ground that the Appeal is not maintainable since, the only option left to the Petitioner was to approach the concern Officer (Respondent No. 2) for revocation of the cancellation and Restoration of the Registration under Section 30 of the CGST Act.

Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.