Globus Logisys PVT. LTD. vs. Assistant Commissioner Of State Tax, N.D. Sarani Charge And Ors.
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The petitioner, Globus Logisys Pvt. Ltd., had its GST registration cancelled by an order dated March 10, 2022. Subsequently, on April 25, 2022, the petitioner filed an application for revocation of this cancellation. A show cause notice was issued by the department on May 19, 2022, in relation to this application. Meanwhile, the petitioner filed an appeal before the appellate authority under Section 107 of the said Act. The appellate authority, by an order dated March 27, 2023, dismissed the petitioner's appeal solely on the ground of delay in its submission, without deciding it on merits. The petitioner also contended that its application for revocation of cancellation of registration remained pending.
Held
The Court held that the respondents were obliged to dispose of the petitioner's application for revocation of the cancellation of registration. The Court noted that this application had been pending for more than two years. Taking into account that the appeal filed by the petitioner was not disposed of on its merits, the Court directed the respondents to dispose of the petitioner's application for revocation of cancellation of registration as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of 4 weeks from the date of communication of the order. This disposal must include an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner. The Court did not decide on the merits of the cancellation or the revocation application itself, but rather on the procedural obligation to decide the pending application.
Key Issues
1. Whether the respondents were obliged to dispose of the petitioner's application for revocation of cancellation of registration, which has been pending for over two years, under the relevant provisions of the WBGST/CGST Act, 2017? The petitioner argued that its application for revocation of cancellation of registration had been kept pending by the respondents, and that the appellate authority had dismissed its appeal on the technical ground of delay rather than on merits. The petitioner contended that the pending revocation application should be disposed of. The State (respondents) argued that the appeal filed by the petitioner was dismissed due to delay. The judgment does not record any specific arguments from the State regarding the pending revocation application, other than implicitly through the dismissal of the appeal.
Sections Cited
Section 107
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2024 Item No. AD 4 Saswata
W.P.A. 13464 of 2024 Globus Logisys Pvt. Ltd. versus Depury Commissioner of State Tax, N.D.Sarani Charge & Ors. Mr. Sandip Choraria Mr. Rishav Manna …For the petitioner Mr. Anirban Ray, Ld. GP Mr. Md. T.M.Siddiqui Mr. T. Chakraborty Mr. S.Sanyal …For the State
The petitioner’s registration under the WBGST/CGST Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the “Said Act”) was cancelled by an order dated 10th March 2022. The petitioner, thereafter, had filed an application for revocation of the order of cancellation on 25th April 2022. It is in connection therewith, a show cause notice dated 19th May 2022 was issued by the department.
In the interregnum, however, the petitioner had preferred an appeal before the appellate authority under Section 107 of the said Act. The appellate authority, by its order dated 27th March 2023 was, inter alia, pleased to dismiss the said appeal on the ground of “delay in submission of the appeal”.
The petitioner contends that although the petitioner had filed an application for revocation of cancellation of registration, such application has been kept pending.
Having heard the learned advocates appearing for the respective parties, I am of the view that the respondents were obliged to dispose of the petitioner’s application for revocation of the cancellation of registration which has been kept pending for more than two years now.
In view thereof and taking note of the fact that the appeal filed by the petitioner was not disposed of on merit, I direct the respondents to dispose of the petitioner’s application for revocation of cancellation as expeditiously as 2 possible, preferably within a period of 4 weeks from date of communication of this order upon giving an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner.
With the above observations and directions, the writ petition being WPA 13464 of 2024 is accordingly disposed of.
All parties shall act on the basis of the server copy of this order duly downloaded from this Court’s official website. (Raja Basu Chowdhury, 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.