Vinay Kumar Giri vs. The State Of Bihar

CWJC/11490/2024HC PatnaGSTCNR BRHC01069019202405 August 2024Bench: MR. JUSTICE NANI TAGIA,THE CHIEF JUSTICE-3 pages

AI SummaryDismissed

Facts

The petitioner, Vinay Kumar Giri, is challenging the cancellation of his GST registration, an order passed on December 14, 2022, by the Assistant Commissioner, CGST and CX, Vaishali Division. He filed an appeal against this order, which was rejected as delayed on November 1, 2023, by the Additional Commissioner (Appeals). The petitioner did not avail the Amnesty Scheme introduced by Circular No. 3 of 2023, which allowed restoration of registration for cancelled dealers upon payment of dues between March 31, 2023, and August 31, 2023. The petitioner does not dispute receiving the show-cause notice for cancellation, which cited non-filing of returns for six continuous months, nor does he claim to have filed returns during that period.

Held

The Court held that the appeal filed by the petitioner was rightly rejected as delayed. Section 107 of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, permits filing an appeal within three months and seeking delay condonation with satisfactory reasons within a further period of one month. The order of cancellation was dated December 14, 2022. Thus, the appeal should have been filed by March 14, 2023, and any delay condonation application by April 13, 2023. The appeal was filed on November 1, 2023, significantly beyond these timelines. The Court also noted that the petitioner did not avail the Amnesty Scheme, which offered a remedy for restoration of registration. The Court found no reason to invoke its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226, as alternate remedies were available and the petitioner had not been diligent in pursuing them within the stipulated time. The principle is that the law favors the diligent, not the indolent. The writ petition was dismissed.

Key Issues

1. Whether the appeal filed by the petitioner against the order of cancellation of registration was rightly rejected as delayed under Section 107 of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017? Petitioner's contention: The petitioner implicitly argues that the delay in filing the appeal should have been condoned, suggesting that there were satisfactory reasons for the delay, though these reasons are not explicitly stated in the judgment. Revenue's contention: The revenue, through the presented facts and the court's reasoning, implicitly argues that the appeal was filed beyond the statutory period prescribed for filing an appeal and for condonation of delay under Section 107 of the BGST Act, and therefore, it was rightly rejected. The judgment notes that the petitioner did not avail the Amnesty Scheme, which could have provided an alternative remedy.

Sections Cited

Section 107

AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below

Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.11490 of 2024 ====================================================== Vinay Kumar Giri son of Ramnath Giri, Resident of Village Sadipur, P.S. and P.S.- Goreakothi, District- Siwan ... ... Petitioner/s Versus 1. The State of Bihar through the Secretary, Commercial Tax Department, Vikas Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna. 2. The Commissioner, Bihar Commercial Tax Department, Govt. of Bihar, Vikas Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna. 3. The Additional Commissioner (Appeals), CGST and CX, Patna 4. The Assistant Commissioner, CGST and CX, Vaishali Division 5. The Superintendent, CGST and CX, Siwan Range. ... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Ravi Raj, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr.P.K. Shahi, Advocate General ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NANI TAGIA

ORAL JUDGMENT (Per: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE) Date : 05-08-2024 The petitioner is aggrieved with the cancellation of registration by Annexure-P/3 order passed on 14.12.2022. against which an appeal was filed which was rejected as delayed, on 01.11.2023 at Annexure-P/5. 2. Section 107 of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“BGST Act” hereafter) permits an appeal to be filed within three months and also apply for delay condonation with satisfactory reasons within a further period of one month. Here, the order impugned in the appeal was dated 14.12.2022. 2/3 An appeal was to be filed on or before 14.03.2023 and if necessary with a delay condonation application within one month thereafter, i.e. on or before 13.04.2023. The appeal is said to have been filed only on 01.11.2023 after the limitation period expired.

Further, the Government had come out with an Amnesty Scheme by Circular No. 3 of 2023, by which the registered dealers, whose registrations were cancelled were permitted to restore their registration on payment of all dues between 31.03.2023 to 31.08.2023. The petitioner did not avail of such remedy also.

The petitioner does not have any case that the show-cause notice was not received by him. Further, it is also pertinent that the reason stated in the show-cause notice for cancellation of registration is that the petitioner has not filed returns for a continuous period of six months. The petitioner does not have a case that he had in fact filed a return in the continuous period of six months.

In the above circumstances, we find no reason to invoke the extraordinary juri iction under Article 226, especially since it is not a measure to be employed where there are alternate remedies available and the assessee has not been 3/3 diligent in availing such alternate remedies within the stipulated time. The law favors the diligent and not the indolent.

The writ petition would stand dismissed.

Anushka/- (K. Vinod Chandran, CJ) (Nani Tagia, J) AFR/NAFR CAV DATE Uploading Date 06.08.2024 Transmission Date

Reproduced from the public record of the Patna High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.