Rajat Bansal Vs Commissioner of Central Goods & Services Tax (Himachal Pradesh High Court)
The Himachal Pradesh High Court considered a writ petition challenging a Show Cause Notice dated 16.10.2024 and the order dated 17.01.2025 cancelling the petitioner’s GST registration retrospectively from 15.03.2022.
The petitioner contended that the Show Cause Notice and cancellation order contained no reasons for suspension or retrospective cancellation, were contrary to Rule 25 of the CGST Rules, 2017, and that the petitioner continued to conduct business from the registered premises. It was also submitted that the verification report and photographs were not uploaded in the prescribed manner and that the field report relied upon oral statements of nearby shop owners.
The respondents submitted that the proceedings originated from Project Anveshan undertaken by the Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM), during which the petitioner was identified as a suspicious entity. Following a physical verification on 16.10.2024, the department claimed that the petitioner was not operating from the registered premises and that another concern was functioning there. A panchnama was prepared, photographs were taken, and a Show Cause Notice was issued under Section 29 of the CGST Act read with Rules 21 and 22 of the CGST Rules.
