Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DINESH KUMAR SINGH MONDAY, THE 19TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 2024 / 30TH MAGHA, 1945 WP(C) NO. 26038 OF 2023 PETITIONER/S:
SHARAFUDEEN UCHUMAL KURUVANKANDY AGED 67 YEARS, 48/8B, PANTHALAYANI, KOYILANDY, KOZHIKODE, KERALA, PIN - 673620 BY ADVS.
RAJESH NAMBIAR SINDHU K.NAMBIAR RESPONDENT/S:
1 THE COMMISSIONERATE KOYILANDI RANGE, COMMERCIAL TAX OFFICE, KOYILANDY KOZHIKODE, REPRESENTED BY COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, OFFICE OF COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL GST,CENTRAL REVENUE BUILDING,MANANCHIRA, KOZHIKODE, PIN - 673001 2 GOODS AND SERVICES TAX NETWORK EAST WING, 4TH FLOOR, WORK MARK-1, AETROCITY, NEW DELHI, PIN – 110037, REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN.
BY ADVS.
R.HARISHANKAR SREEJITH P. R THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 19.02.2024, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
WP(C) NO. 26038 OF 2023 2 J U D G M E N T The present writ petition has been filed mainly seeking the following reliefs:
“(i) Issue a Writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the respondents to cancel the Ext.P4 entry in the GST Portal showing the effective date of cancellation of the petitioner's registration as 14.01.2023 and rectify the same as 20.01.2021;
(ii) Issue a writ of mandamus or any other writ order or direction, directing the respondents to issue a certificate of cancellation of registration to the petitioner showing the effective date of cancellation of registration as 20.01.2021 as reflected in Ext.P1; and (iii) Declare that any subsequent order of cancellation of registration issued after the earlier order of cancellation of registration has become final, is illegal and Ultra-vires the provisions of the Act.” 2.
In the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the respondents, it has been stated that the petitioner got GST registration with effect from 17.11.2017. But, the same came to be cancelled with effect from 20.1.2021 under Section 29(2)(c)
WP(C) NO. 26038 OF 2023 3 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“CGST Act”, for short) for non-filing of returns for more than six months. After cancellation of the GST registration, the petitioner had filed the returns and paid the late fee, as there was no business, no tax was due.
3.
It appears that after the petitioner filed the returns up to the date of cancellation and paid the late fee, his GST registration was restored.
4.
There is no power for suo motu restoration of registration once it is cancelled under Section 29(2)(c) of the CGST Act, even if a dealer files the returns subsequently up to the date of cancellation. It is also not in dispute that the petitioner has not made any application for revocation of the order cancelling his GST registration with effect from 20.1.2021.
5.
In the counter affidavit, it has also been stated that the petitioner's GST registration was restored on 11.11.2022. However, the same has
WP(C) NO. 26038 OF 2023 4 again been cancelled with effect from 14.1.2023 under Section 29(2)(c) of the CGST Act.
6.
There is no provision under the CGST Act and the Rules made thereunder for suo motu restoration of the registration. Therefore, the order of restoring registration with effect from 11.11.2022 is without any authority of law and therefore, there was no question of subsequent cancellation with effect from 14.1.2023.
7.
In view of the above, the present writ petition is disposed of with direction to the Department to treat the date of cancellation of the CGST registration of the petitioner as 20.1.2021 and the subsequent date of cancellation, i.e. 14.1.2023, has no relevance and to be ignoured.
With the aforesaid clarification, the present writ petition stands finally disposed of. Pending interlocutory application, if any, in the present writ petition stands dismissed.
Sd/- DINESH KUMAR SINGH
JUDGE jg
WP(C) NO. 26038 OF 2023 5 APPENDIX OF WP(C) 26038/2023 PETITIONER EXHIBITS Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF THE SCREEN SHOT OF THE GST WEBSITE RECORDING THE STATUS OF REGISTRATION OF THE PETITIONER AS CANCELLED WITH EFFECT FROM 20.01.2021 Exhibit P2 TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED NIL FILED FOR TAKING NEW REGISTRATION SUBMITTED ON 9.08.2022 Exhibit P3 TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE DATED 15.08.2022 SEEKING ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS RELATING TO APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION Exhibit P4 TRUE COPY OF THE SCREENSHOT OF THE GST PORTAL DATED NIL SHOWING THE DATE OF CANCELLATION OF REGISTRATION AS 14.01.2023 RESPONDENT EXHIBITS EXHIBIT R1 (A) TRUE COPY OF THE EMAIL INTIMATION DATED 06.01.2024 OBTAINED FROM THE PETITIONER BY THE RANGE SUPERINTENDENT