Tvl. A. V. Traders Vs Commercial Tax Officer (Kerala High Court)
Kerala High Court held that for contravention of the provisions of the GST Act, department can take civil and/ or criminal action against the accused, however, suspension of GST registration directly hits the fundamental right and hence unjustified.
Facts- Challenging the impugned suspension of registration and the show cause notice issued for the purpose of cancellation of GST number of the petitioner, the present Writ Petition.
Notably, the petitioner contested that the notice in Form GST REG-17 dated 05.09.2024 was issued to the petitioner, for which, the petitioner also filed a reply on 12.09.2024. However, without considering the reply, till date, the respondent has not taken any decision to revoke the suspension of GST registration.
Conclusion- Held that the respondent has passed the impugned order without considering the reply submitted by the petitioner. As already observed, if at all the petitioner indulged in conducting the business in contravention of the provisions of the Act, the respondent is supposed to take both civil as well as the criminal action against the petitioner in the manner provided in law, but certainly, ought not to have suspended the GST registration of the petitioner. It directly hit the fundamental right of the petitioner since the petitioner is entitled to trade and carry on the business. Therefore, the impugned proceedings dated 05.09.2024 are liable to be set aside.
