Imthiaz vs. Superintendent
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Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORAL ORDER In this petition the petitioner seeks the following reliefs :
i) Issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ or order or direction quashing the digitally signed show cause notice in FORM GST-REG-17/31 for cancellation of registration issued under section 29 of CGST Act, 2017 dated 02.02.2024 bearing reference no.ZA2902224008539G issued by the respondent no.1 and enclosed as Annexure-D;
ii) Issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ or order or direction quashing the digitally signed order of cancellation of registration issued in FORM GST-REG-19 under section 29(2) (a) of CGST Act, 2017 dated 16.02.2024 bearing reference no.ZA2902224088275A and issued by the respondent no.1 and enclosed as Annexure-E;
iii) Issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ or order or direction quashing the digitally signed order of rejection of application for revocation of cancellation issued by Assistant Commissioner LG STO 260 Mangalore dated 17.04.2024 bearing reference no.ZA290424065417B and issued by the respondent no.2 and enclosed as Annexure-J;
iv) And pass such other orders as this Hon'ble Court deems fit and proper in the interest of justice and equity.
In addition to reiterating the various contentions urged in the petition and referring to the material on record, learned counsel for the petitioner invited the attention to NC: 2024:KHC:36332 the criminal proceedings in Criminal Misc.No.1244/2024 in order to point out that the petitioner was arrested on 22.1.2024 and as such, he was not in a position to submit his reply to the show cause notice dated 2.2.2024 especially when the said notice provided only a short/small period of one day to submit his response and for personal appearance. It is submitted that since the petitioner did not submit his reply to the show cause notice, the respondent proceeded to pass the impugned order dated 16.2.2024 cancelling the GST registration of the petitioner.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that subsequent to being granted bail by the Sessions Court in Crl. Misc. No.1244/2024, the petitioner filed an application dated 12.3.2024 seeking rejection of the GST registration cancellation made by respondent no.
In pursuance to the same, respondents no.1 and 2 issued the impugned show cause notice calling upon the petitioner as to why the revocation application should not be rejected and pursuant to a response submitted by the petitioner to the said show cause notice, respondent no.2 passed the NC: 2024:KHC:36332 impugned order rejecting the revocation application filed by the petitioner. Aggrieved by the impugned orders, the petitioner is before this Court by way of present petition.
Per contra, learned HCGP for the respondent submits that there is no merit in the petition and the same is liable to be dismissed.
Perusal of the impugned show cause notice would indicate that except stating that the GST registration of the petitioner had been obtained by fraud, willful mis- statement or suppression of fact, necessary particulars, details etc. in this regard are not forthcoming in the impugned show cause notice. Further the show cause notice having been issued on 2.2.2024, the petitioner has been granted extremely a short/small period of time upto only 11.00 a.m. on the very next day i.e., 3.2.2024 to not only submit his reply and also appear for personal hearing in the matter. Under these circumstances, I am of the considered opinion that the impugned order at Annexure-E dated 16.2.2024 cancelling GST registration of the NC: 2024:KHC:36332 petitioner is violative of principles of natural justice warranting interference by this Court in the present petition.
As rightly contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the material on record in relation to the criminal proceedings would indicate that the petitioner was arrested on 22.1.2024 as a result of which he was not in a position to submit the reply along with documents to the impugned show cause notice which is yet another circumstance which would vitiate the impugned order and the same deserves to be set aside on this ground also.
A perusal of the impugned order at Annexure-J dated 17.4.2024 rejecting the revocation application submitted by the petitioner will indicate that new grounds and reasons have been assigned for rejecting the revocation application which were not found in the original cancellation order. Under these circumstances, the impugned order Annexure-J dated 17.4.2024 putting forth various grounds which were not forthcoming in the earlier cancellation order would also vitiate the impugned order NC: 2024:KHC:36332 Annexure-J which deserves to be set aside by reserving liberty in favour of the respondent to issue fresh show cause notice and provide sufficient and reasonable opportunity to the petitioner and proceed further in accordance with law.
In the result, the following order is passed :
ORDER i) Petition is hereby allowed; ii) The impugned orders at Annexures D, E and J are hereby quashed; iii) Respondent is directed to reinstate/restore GST registration of the petitioner immediately upon the petitioner paying tax and filing returns. iv)Liberty is granted to the respondent to issue show cause notice and to provide sufficient and reasonable opportunity to the petitioner, granting him personal hearing and proceed further in accordance with law. (S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR) JUDGE
rs/List No.: 1 Sl No.: 11
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.