M/S Kesarwani Enterprises vs. Commercial Tax Officer Sector-5 And Another
Facts
The petitioner, M/s Kesarwani Enterprises, had its GST registration cancelled on January 2, 2021, effective from the same date. The revenue has not contended that this registration was ever revived or that the petitioner sought its revival. Consequently, the petitioner argues it was not obligated to check the GST portal for show cause notices issued for the period April 2019 - March 2020, which preceded the adjudication order dated August 12, 2024. The revenue also did not claim to have issued any physical or offline notice to the petitioner before passing the impugned order. Given these circumstances, the Court found no purpose in keeping the petition pending or relegating the petitioner to an alternative remedy.
Held
The Court held that the petitioner was not obligated to visit the GST portal to receive show cause notices for the period April 2019 - March 2020, as its GST registration had been cancelled effective January 2, 2021, and there was no contention from the revenue that the registration was revived or that any physical notice was served. The Court found that the essential requirement of the rules of natural justice had not been fulfilled. Therefore, the adjudication order dated August 12, 2024, was set aside. The petitioner was granted four weeks to submit its reply to the show cause notice. Upon compliance, a fresh order was to be passed after affording an opportunity of personal hearing, preferably within three months.
Key Issues
1. Whether the petitioner was obligated to visit the GST portal to receive show cause notices for the period April 2019 - March 2020, given the cancellation of its GST registration effective January 2, 2021, and in light of the adjudication order dated August 12, 2024. Petitioner's Contention: The petitioner argued that since its GST registration was cancelled effective January 2, 2021, it was not required to access the GST portal for notices pertaining to the period prior to cancellation, especially when no revival of registration had occurred. The petitioner also asserted that no physical or offline notice was served before the impugned order was passed. Revenue's Contention: The revenue did not dispute the cancellation of registration or its effective date. It also did not claim that any physical/offline notice was issued or served on the petitioner prior to the adjudication order.
Sections Cited
None explicitly mentioned in the judgment text provided.
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:106005-DB Court No. - 3 Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 2980 of 2025 Petitioner :- M/S Kesarwani Enterprises Respondent :- Commercial Tax Officer Sector-5 And Another Counsel for Petitioner :- Nitin Kumar Kesarwani,Shubhanjali Gupta Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C. Hon'ble Shekhar B. Saraf,J. Hon'ble Praveen Kumar Giri,J.
Having heard Sri Nitin Kumar Kesarwani, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri Ankur Agarwal, learned Standing Counsel for the respondents, it remains undisputed that the petitioner's registration under the UPGST Act, 2017 was cancelled on 02.01.2021 w.e.f. 02.01.2021. It is not the case of the revenue that the said registration has ever been revived or that the petitioner ever sought revival of that registration.
In view of the above, it does merit acceptance that the petitioner was not obligated to visit the GST portal to receive the show cause notices that may have been issued to the petitioner for April, 2019 - March, 2020 through e-mode, preceding the adjudication order dated 12.08.2024 passed in pursuance thereto.
It is also not the case of the revenue that any physical/offline notice was issued to or served on the peti
The judgment continues below.
Read the full judgment
A free account opens 10 full GST judgments a month (one account works on both bharattax.net and this site). Re-reading one you have already opened does not count again.
The summary, the parties, the sections and the citations above are open to everyone and always will be. Only the text of the order and the PDF are metered.
Reproduced from the public record of the Allahabad High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.