Rayees Metals Vs Deputy State Tax Officer (Telangana High Court)
The Telangana High Court allowed the writ petition challenging a show cause notice dated 29 February 2024 proposing cancellation of GST registration and the consequential order suspending the petitioner’s registration. The principal issue before the Court was whether the show cause notice and the suspension order were legally sustainable.
The petitioner contended that the impugned notice merely reproduced the language of Section 29(2)(e) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, without disclosing any factual basis or particulars of the alleged fraud, wilful misrepresentation, or suppression of facts. It was argued that the notice was so cryptic that an effective reply could not be submitted and that the abrupt suspension of registration adversely affected the petitioner’s livelihood protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. Reliance was placed on an earlier decision of the High Court in T S R Exports.
The learned Assistant Government Pleader, on instructions, fairly conceded that the show cause notice was cryptic and did not contain the necessary details.
The High Court observed that the impugned notice merely stated that the registration had been obtained by fraud, wilful misrepresentation, or suppression of facts under Section 29(2)(e), without specifying any factual allegations supporting that conclusion. The Court held that the notice reflected non-application of mind and, in the absence of the factual basis and necessary particulars, was legally vulnerable.
