Sunil Kumar Vij Vs Union of India and others (Himachal Pradesh High court)
The Hon’ble High Court of Himachal Pradesh in Sunil Kumar Vij v. Union of India and Others [CWP No. 8478 of 2022 dated December 13, 2022] set aside the order of Assistant Commissioner (Appeals) rejecting the appeal of the assessee for restoration of the Goods and Services Tax (“GST”) Registration on the grounds delay of one day. Held that, rejection of appeal merely because of delay of one day is such a hyper technical and pedantic view of the matter to hold that even the delay of one day would be fatal to the maintainability of the appeal.
Facts:
Sunil Kumar Vij (“the Petitioner”) is a dealer registered under GST and was served with a Show Cause Notice (“SCN”) dated June 14, 2020 for cancellation of its GST Registration. The Revenue Department (“the Respondent”) thereafter, suo moto cancelled the Petitioner’s GST Registration vide order dated July 28, 2020 on the ground that the Petitioner had not filed up-to-date returns along with payment of tax. Further, rejected the application for revocation of the GST Registration filed by the Petitioner dated October 25, 2021.
Subsequently, the Petitioner filed an appeal for the same before the Commissioner (Appeals) who vide order dated August 29, 2022 (“the Impugned Order”) which was dismissed only on account of its being barred by one day.
Being aggrieved, this petition has been filed.
Issue:
Whether the order passed for rejection of appeal due to delay of one day is against the principles of natural justice?
Held:
The Hon’ble High Court of Himachal Pradesh in CWP No. 8478 of 2022 held as under:
