Ashis Roychowdhury vs. The State Of West Bengal And Ors.
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The petitioner, Shri Ashis Roychowdhury, filed a writ petition challenging the cancellation of his GST registration. The cancellation was reportedly due to non-filing of returns. The petitioner stated that he had paid all outstanding revenue after the cancellation and was willing to pay any further dues to have his registration restored. He relied on a previous judgment dated 09.04.2024. The State, represented by the CGST/WBGST authority, was the respondent. The tax period for which returns were not filed is not explicitly stated. The impugned order under challenge is the cancellation of registration by the concerned authorities.
Held
The Court allowed the writ petition, setting aside the impugned orders of the concerned authorities. The CGST/WBGST authority was directed to restore the petitioner's registration and open the portal for 45 days from the communication of the order. This period is to enable the petitioner to pay all revenue due, including any penalty indicated by the respondent authority within 15 working days. If the petitioner fails to make the payment after the amount is indicated, the respondent authority is free to block the portal again and cancel the registration. The ratio decidendi appears to be that a taxpayer's willingness to clear dues and a prior judicial precedent can warrant the restoration of registration, even if initially cancelled for non-filing of returns, provided the taxpayer rectifies the non-compliance promptly.
Key Issues
1. Whether the cancellation of the petitioner's GST registration on the ground of non-filing of returns, despite subsequent payment of dues and willingness to clear further liabilities, is sustainable in law? The petitioner argued that having paid all revenue due and agreeing to pay any outstanding amounts, including penalties, his registration should be restored. He relied on a prior judgment of the High Court dated 09.04.2024. The State's arguments are not explicitly recorded in the judgment, but their participation as respondents implies they defended the cancellation order.
Sections Cited
CGST Act, WBGST Act
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
7 SM
2025. WPA 30775 of 2024
Shri Ashis Roychowdhury Vs The State of West Bengal & Ors.
Ms. Bulbuli Basu … for the petitioner
Mr. A. Roy Md. T. M. Siddiqui
Mr. N. Chatterjee Mr. T. Chakraborty Mr. S. Sanyal
… for the state
Affidavit of service filed today is kept with the record. Heard Learned Counsels appearing for the parties. The main issue involved in this writ petition relates to the cancellation of petitioner’s registration on the ground of non-filing of return. Petitioner submits that after the cancellation of its registration, it has paid all the revenue due and further agrees to pay any outstanding revenue for restoring its registration and relies on a judgment dated 09.04.2024 passed by the Hon’ble Chief Justice and the Hon’ble Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya. Considering the submissions of the parties, this writ petition being WPA 30775 of 2024 is disposed of by setting aside the impugned orders of both the concerned
2 authorities and by directing the respondent CGST/WBGST authority to restore the petitioner’s registration and open the portal for a period of 45 days from date of communication of this order by the counsel of the respondent authority to enable the petitioner to make the payment of revenue due as well as any other due including penalty to be indicated by the respondent authority concerned within a period of 15 working days. If the petitioner fails to make the payment of revenue due after indication of the amount by the GST authority, the respondent authority concerned shall be free to block the portal again and cancel the registration. There shall be no order as to costs. All parties shall act in terms of the copy of the order downloaded from the official website of this Court.
(Rajarshi Bharadwaj, J.)
Reproduced from the public record of the Calcutta High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.