M/S Wisdom Enterprises vs. Superintendent Of Central Tax
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Heard together (2 matters)
Read from the judgment's own cause title. This page is filed under one of them.
Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORAL ORDER
The petitioners are aggrieved by the respondent's Order dated 12.03.2026 [Annexure-B in the writ petition in W.P. No.13708/2026] and the Order dated 11.02.2026 [Annexure-B in the writ petition in W.P. No.13791/2026] to cancel the Central Goods and Services Tax Registration under Section 29 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 [for short, 'the Act']. The petitioners have been issued with Show Cause Notices before the decision to cancel the registration. The petitioners have also filed applications for revocation of cancellation. HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28541
Sri Bharath Kumar V, the learned counsel for the petitioners, and Sri Jeevan J Neeralagi, the learned counsel for the respondent, are heard on whether this Court must interfere with the decision to cancel registration and restore the proceedings to the stage of Show Cause Notice permitting the petitioners to file documents to justify that there should be no decision to cancel registration. The learned counsel submits as follows.
[a] For issuance of the Show Cause Notice, it would be incumbent upon the respondent to record reasons to believe that the registration is liable to be cancelled and only then issue a Notice in Form GST REG-17 to show cause and in these cases, the respondent has purportedly visited the property before issuing the Show Cause Notice. HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28541 [b] In the writ petition in W.P. No.13708/2026, the Report of Personal Visit is uploaded, and the Report which is appended with a photograph shows another property and not the petitioner's property. Therefore, the respondent could not have justifiably recorded “reasons to believe.”
[c] In the writ petition in W.P. No. 13791/2026, the respondent has uploaded a Report which is blank.
Crucially, Sri Bharath Kumar V submits that the petitioners can produce documents to show that they are in business at the place of business as mentioned in the Registration Certificate. Sri Jeevan J Neeralagi, learned counsel for the respondent, submits that because the application for revocation is pending consideration, this Court may dispose of HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28541 these petitions directing the respondent to decide on such pending application expeditiously reserving liberty to the petitioners to file their responses.
This Court must consider these rival submissions to answer whether the interference must be with the order of cancellation or to direct a decision on the application for revocation. At this stage, this Court must opine that the provisions of Rule 22[1] of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 [for short, ‘the GST Rules’] is categorical in stipulating that a notice [for cancellation] must be issued in the required format after the concerned records reason to believe. The provisions of Rule 22[1] of the GST Rules reads as under: “22[1] Where the proper officer has reasons to believe that the registration of a person is liable to be cancelled under section 29, he shall issue a notice to such person in FORM GST REG-17, requiring him to show cause, within a period of seven working days from the date of the service HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28541 of such notice, as to why his registration shall not be cancelled.”
In the present cases, the Show Cause Notices are issued based on Reports which have either a photograph of an unrelated property or no photograph with the details being blank. Therefore, this Court finds that the interference must be to restore the proceedings to the stage of Show Cause Notice and not for directions to consider the pending application for revocation. This Court must permit the petitioners to file their response with all the documents by a specified date directing the respondent to consider the same and pass just orders. Further, because this Court has interfered to restore the proceedings permitting the petitioners to respond to the Show Cause Notices quashing the order for cancellation of registration, the suspension of the registration must also be quashed. Hence, the following: HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28541 ORDER [a] The petitions are allowed in part. [b] The respondent's impugned Orders of Cancellation dated 12.03.2026 [Annexure-B in the writ petition in W.P. No.13708/2026] and the Order dated 11.02.2026 [Annexure-B in the writ petition in W.P. No.13791/2026] are quashed. [c] The decision to suspend the petitioner’s Certificate of registration is also consequentially quashed. [d] The petitioners are reserved with liberty to file documents in response to the Show Cause Notices by 13.07.2026 directing the respondent to consider the same and pass just orders. [e] It is needless to observe that if the petitioners do not avail the HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28541 opportunity now extended, it will be open to the respondent to conclude the proceedings based on the material available. (B M SHYAM PRASAD) JUDGE
AN/-
Reproduced from the public record of the Karnataka High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.