Neha Vs Union of India & Ors. (Delhi High Court)
Summary: The Delhi High Court considered two connected writ petitions, W.P.(C) 6218/2026 and W.P.(C) 12210/2026, concerning allegations that fraudulent GST registration had been obtained by other persons by misusing the PAN Card and Aadhaar Card particulars of innocent citizens. The Court had earlier noted that the issue appeared to involve rampant fraudulent GST registrations in the names of persons who were not connected with the underlying businesses and that substantial liabilities could consequently be created in their names.
By its order dated 21.08.2026, the Court had requested Mr. Tarun Gulati, learned Senior Counsel, who normally represents assessees before the Court, to assist it and suggest ways and means to curb such practices. The Court had also issued notice to the Commissioner of Delhi Police.
In compliance with that order, Mr. Tarun Gulati placed suggestions before the Court, along with instructions issued by the concerned authorities from time to time. The suggested safeguards included mandatory facial recognition of the applicant with the Aadhaar database during registration; video-based verification requiring the applicant to display his or her face along with the original PAN Card and Aadhaar Card and read out a system-generated prompt containing relevant identity details and a unique code; preservation of the IP address and device location used for the application; mandatory physical verification of the proposed principal place of business before grant of registration, or alternatively random physical inspections based on risk evaluation; real-time sharing of registration data with the Income Tax Department and contemporaneous communication to the PAN holder; validation and cross-checking with Form 26AS/Form 16B; risk flagging where there was a sudden and significant increase in turnover; real-time confirmation with the Aadhaar holder regarding knowledge of the business or principal place of business; communication through DigiLocker where available; creation by DGARM of a PAN-Aadhaar mismatch and “first time use of PAN/Aadhaar for GST” risk parameter; and nomination of identifiable persons who could corroborate the applicant’s identity and the existence of the proposed business.
