Case Law Details
Pritam Nath Vs Union of India And 4 Ors. (Gauhati High Court)
In Pritam Nath vs. Union of India & Ors., the Gauhati High Court set aside an order canceling the petitioner’s GST registration. The petitioner, an architect, had been registered under the GST Act since 2017 but failed to file returns for six months due to personal difficulties and the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to a show cause notice on December 17, 2020, followed by an order of cancellation on January 20, 2021. The petitioner appealed the cancellation in March 2023, but the appellate authority rejected his request, prompting him to seek judicial intervention.
The court noted that the petitioner’s exclusion from the GST system would prevent the collection of statutory dues, which was against the interest of the revenue authorities. The petitioner cited similar cases where the court had ordered the restoration of GST registrations upon full payment of outstanding dues. The respondents did not dispute these precedents, leading the court to consider them while deciding the case.
Judicial precedents, including decisions in W.P(C) No. 6175/2022 and W.P(C) No. 576/2023, have established that GST registration cancellations should be revoked if the taxpayer complies with statutory payment requirements. The Supreme Court in Sundaram Finance Ltd. vs. Regional Transport Officer (2018) also underscored that administrative decisions affecting financial rights must be reasonable and fair, aligning with the principles of natural justice.
In its judgment, the High Court directed the tax authorities to inform the petitioner of any outstanding dues. If the petitioner clears the pending amounts, the authorities must revoke the cancellation and restore his registration. This case highlights the court’s approach to balancing tax compliance with procedural fairness, ensuring businesses are not arbitrarily removed from the GST framework.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF GAUHATI HIGH COURT
Heard Mr. S. K. Agarwal, learned counsel for the writ petitioner. Also heard Ms. M. Deka, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Mr. S.C. Keyal, learned Standing Counsel, GST, for the respondents.
2. The petitioner is a reputed Architect who undertakes and executes Architectural The petitioner is an assessee under the GST Act, 2017 and has GST Registration with effect from 25.09.2017 being Registration No. 18ADCPN9764H1Z2.
3. Pursuant to being registered under the GST Act, the petitioner has been regularly submitting his GST However, due to several personal problems and also due to the COVID19 Pandemic situation and lockdown throughout the entire country, his GST returns could not be submitted for a continuous period of 6 (six) months. On 17.12.2020, respondent No. 5 issued a Show cause notice on the petitioner to show cause as to why the GST registration should not be cancelled for not filing the returns for a continuous period of 6 months. The reply was directed to be submitted within 7 days from the date of service of notice.
4. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that by order dated 01.2021 under reference No. ZA1801210719996, the GST registration of the petitioner was cancelled. The effective date of cancellation was 20.01.2021. The petitioner filed an appeal before the appellate authority on 31.03.2023 against the cancellation of the GST registration. The appeal filed by the petitioner also came to be rejected. The learned counsel for the petitioner refers to various orders passed by the Co-ordinate Benches too, whereby this Court had passed orders for restoration of the GST registration.
5. Ms. M. Deka, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Mr. S.C. Keyal, learned Standing Counsel, GST, for the respondents submits that the order of the appellate authority has not been placed by the petitioner. She however does not dispute the position that orders have been passed by the Co-ordinate Benches directing the restoration of GST Registration upon complete payment of all dues, if any.
6. The learned counsels for the parties have been Pleadings on record have also been perused.
7. The petitioner is an Architect and undertakes and executes various architectural Under the GST regime, the petitioner was required to pay the necessary dues under the CGST or SGST as the case may be or both. These statutory dues are required to be paid by all entities who are registered under the GST regime. Such payments of statutory due(s) contribute towards the revenue collection by the Union. If the petitioner is not included within the GST regime, then any statutory dues that may be required to be deposited by the petitioner will not be deposited and which will not be in the interest of the revenue. Therefore, in order that the petitioner is required to comply with his statutory obligations of payment of taxes under the GST regime, it would be necessary for the departmental authorities to re-consider the prayer of the petitioner for revocation of his cancellation of GST registration.
8. It is submitted at the bar that there are several orders passed by this Court as well as by other Co-ordinate Benches in similar matters whereby the matters have been disposed of with a direction to the respondent authority to revoke the cancellation of registration upon due payment of all statutory dues payable by the In some matters as in the present proceedings, the assessee had approached the statutory appellate authority for redressal of their grievances which however was rejected by the appellate authority. This Court is therefore of the view that since similar such orders have been passed by this Court as well as other Co-ordinate Benches, it will serve no purpose to keep the present writ petition pending. This present writ petition can also be disposed of in terms of similar orders as had been done by the orders passed in W.P(C) No. 6175/2022, W.P(C) No. 576/2023 and ors.
9. Accordingly, the impugned order dated 01.2021 is hereby interfered with and set aside. It is directed that the Respondent No. 5, namely Superintendent of Central Goods & Services Tax, Guwahati will intimate the petitioner the total outstanding statutory dues, if any, standing in the name of the petitioner till the date of cancellation of his GST registration. Upon such intimation, if any such outstanding statutory dues under GST are required to be paid, the same shall be deposited by the petitioner without fail. Upon such payment of statutory dues under the GST by the petitioner, the respondent authority will pass appropriate orders and revoke the cancellation by restoring the GST registration of the petitioner.
10. Accordingly, the writ petition stand disposed No order as to costs.
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