Sanjeev Kumar Sharma Vs State of Bihar (Patna High Court)
In the case of Sanjeev Kumar Sharma Vs State of Bihar, the Patna High Court upheld the cancellation of the petitioner’s GST registration due to non-compliance with the appeal filing deadline and failure to take advantage of an amnesty scheme. The petitioner’s registration was initially canceled on February 9, 2023, due to a six-month lapse in filing GST returns. Although he filed an appeal on January 31, 2024, the court found it to be significantly delayed beyond the statutory period permitted under Section 107 of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (BGST Act). This section allows for an appeal within three months, with an additional one-month grace period for condonation, subject to valid reasons. In this case, the appeal was required by June 9, 2023, but was filed over six months later.
Additionally, the petitioner failed to utilize an Amnesty Scheme introduced by the government via Circular No. 3 of 2023. This scheme provided a temporary window from March 31 to August 31, 2023, allowing businesses with canceled registrations to reinstate them by clearing outstanding dues. The court noted that the petitioner neither filed returns on time nor used this alternative remedy. Given these circumstances, the court declined to exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226, as there were available remedies the petitioner failed to pursue diligently.
