Rabindra Biswas Vs Union of India 3 Ors (Gauhati High Court)
The Gauhati High Court, in the case of Rabindra Biswas vs. Union of India, has delivered a judgment allowing a taxpayer a fresh, conditional opportunity to apply for the restoration of his cancelled GST registration, even though the statutory deadline for revocation had expired. The court utilized its inherent judicial power to mitigate the severe civil consequences of cancellation, provided the taxpayer fulfils all mandatory statutory requirements.
Gauhati High Court Allows Conditional Restoration of Cancelled GST Registration
The petitioner, Rabindra Biswas, the proprietor of M/s Rahul Enterprise, had his GST registration cancelled by the Superintendent, II-A Range, on July 22, 2024. The cancellation was effected under Section 29(2)(c) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017, due to the non-filing of GST returns for a continuous period of six months.
The petitioner contended that he was not familiar with the online procedure and, consequently, failed to respond to the show cause notice issued on June 11, 2024, within the stipulated 30-day period. Though he later updated all his pending returns up to June 2024 and discharged his full GST dues, along with applicable late fees and interest, the GST portal denied his subsequent application for revocation of cancellation. The portal displayed a message indicating that the statutory time limit of 270 days from the cancellation date for filing the revocation application had already expired. A subsequent appeal filed by the petitioner was also dismissed on August 12, 2025.
