Rebat Kumar Sahu Vs Superintendent (Orissa High Court)
The Orissa High Court, in the case of Rebat Kumar Sahu vs. Superintendent, addressed the matter of a petitioner’s GST registration cancellation. The petitioner challenged a show cause notice dated August 8, 2023, and the subsequent cancellation order dated December 12, 2023, issued under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The petitioner’s advocate argued that the client was prepared to settle all outstanding dues, including tax, interest, late fees, and penalties, to facilitate the acceptance of their return forms by the tax department. The petitioner’s legal counsel referenced a precedent set in M/s. Mohanty Enterprises v. The Commissioner, CT & GST, Odisha, Cuttack and others (W.P.(C) no.30374 of 2022), wherein the court had addressed a similar situation.
The court, after considering the submissions, referred to paragraph 2 of the M/s. Mohanty Enterprises order. In that prior case, the court had condoned the delay in invoking the proviso to Rule 23 of the Odisha Goods and Services Tax Rules (OGST Rules). The court had directed that, subject to the petitioner depositing all due taxes, interest, late fees, and penalties, and fulfilling other necessary formalities, the petitioner’s application for revocation should be considered according to the law. Following this precedent, the Orissa High Court issued a similar directive in the Rebat Kumar Sahu case. The court effectively condoned the petitioner’s delay and instructed that the petitioner be allowed to pay all outstanding dues. Upon fulfilling these financial obligations and other procedural requirements, the petitioner’s application for revocation of the GST registration cancellation is to be considered.
