C. P. Pandey & Co. Vs Commissioner of State Tax (Bombay High Court)
The Bombay High Court considered a writ petition challenging the suspension and subsequent cancellation of GST registration dated 25 June 2021 and 12 July 2021 respectively. The petitioner confined the relief to quashing these impugned orders.
The petitioner submitted that a show cause notice dated 25 June 2021 was issued, to which a reply was filed on 29 June 2021. However, the final order dated 12 July 2021 cancelling the registration was passed on grounds that were not part of the show cause notice. It was argued that such action violated settled legal principles, as the petitioner was not given an opportunity to respond to these new grounds. The petitioner had also filed an appeal before the appellate authority on 28 May 2022, but the appeal had remained pending without progress for over a year, causing prejudice.
The petitioner relied on the decision in Ramji Enterprises & Ors. Vs. Commissioner of State Tax & Ors., where similar circumstances led to the quashing of a cancellation order passed on grounds beyond the show cause notice. Further reliance was placed on Monit Trading Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Union of India & Ors. to support restoration of registration.
