Adonex Pharmaceutical Private Limited vs. The State Of Bihar

Held

The Court disposed of the writ petition by directing the petitioner to file an application before the competent authority for the restoration of their GST registration. Upon receipt of this application, the competent authority was directed to pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law within four weeks. The petitioner undertook to pay all dues and taxes within four weeks of the decision on their restoration application. Crucially, the Court stipulated that the issue of limitation would not be a bar to the consideration of the restoration application on its merits. The Court did not explicitly decide on the legality of the appellate order or the original cancellation order but facilitated a path for the petitioner to seek restoration, effectively bypassing the procedural hurdles that led to the dismissal of the appeal and the cancellation of registration.

Facts

The petitioner, Adonex Pharmaceutical Private Limited, filed a writ petition challenging an order-in-appeal dated September 8, 2022, passed by the Additional Commissioner of State Taxes (Appeal), Patna West Division. This appellate order dismissed the petitioner's appeal on grounds of delay. The petitioner also challenged a consequential Form GST APL-02 dated September 13, 2022, which communicated the rejection of their appeal. Furthermore, the petition sought to quash an ex-parte order-in-original dated August 28, 2021, passed by the Joint Commissioner of State Tax, Patna City East Circle, which cancelled the petitioner's GST registration. This cancellation was based on a show cause notice dated August 13, 2021, which also suspended the petitioner's GST registration effective from that date.

Key Issues

1. Whether the order-in-appeal dated 08/09/2022, passed by the Additional Commissioner of State Taxes (Appeal), dismissing the petitioner's appeal on the ground of delay, is legally sustainable, and consequently, whether the rejection of the petitioner's appeal communicated via Form GST APL-02 dated 13/09/2022 is valid? 2. Whether the ex-parte order-in-original dated 28/08/2021, passed by the Joint Commissioner of State Tax, cancelling the petitioner's GST registration under Section 29 of the GST Act, is valid, considering it was passed without addressing the merits of the case? Petitioner's Contentions: The petitioner argued that they are ready and willing to complete the formalities for the restoration of their GST registration. They sought a direction to the respondents to revoke the cancellation and reactivate their registration. The petitioner's counsel indicated a willingness to pay all dues and taxes. Revenue's Contentions: The judgment records no specific arguments from the respondent revenue authorities regarding the merits of the cancellation or the delay in filing the appeal. The court's order suggests a procedural resolution rather than an adjudication of the revenue's stance.