Uttarakhand high court has quashed the cancellation of a restaurant’s GST registration and allowed it to reapply, saying the GST Act remains “technically complex for citizens focused on running their daily businesses”. The division bench of Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Alok Mahra held that the delay in seeking revocation must be condoned as such cancellations affect sources of livelihood and reduce state revenue.
The court passed the order earlier this week while hearing a petition filed by M/s River View Restaurant in Bageshwar. The bench noted that GST is still in its initial phase and that several of its provisions are beyond the understanding of a common person. The court directed the petitioner to file a fresh application for restoration of GST registration within three weeks. It also instructed the department to process the application within the following three-week period.
Counsel for the respondents — commissioner and joint commissioner of state goods and services tax — said the petitioner had the option to apply for revocation under Section 30 of the Central GST Act, 2017. The provision allows a registered taxpayer, whose GST registration has been cancelled by the proper officer on their own motion, to apply for revocation of the cancellation order within 30 days — which can be extended up to 90 days — provided all pending returns are filed and tax dues are paid. The petitioner’s counsel admitted that no such application was filed within the prescribed time.
The court said, “We feel that the limitation should not take precedence for reconsideration of the order of cancellation. Keeping a larger objective of the involvement of livelihood and also loss of revenue to the department, we are of the considered opinion that delay in invoking the provisions of the Act is required to be condoned and is, accordingly, condoned.”
Several high courts, including Delhi, Madras and Gujarat, have in recent months condoned delays in GST registration revocation filings under section 30, particularly in cases involving small businesses, where courts observed that cancellation could affect income and state revenue.
Source #TOI
