M/S. Royal Engineers vs. The Deputy State Tax Officer
Held
The Court, considering the facts and circumstances, was inclined to allow the petitioner liberty to approach the competent authority within two weeks for submission of a physical application for revocation of the GST registration cancellation. The competent authority was directed to entertain the application and decide it in accordance with law within three weeks thereafter. The writ petition was disposed of with this direction. The Court did not explicitly decide on the legality or justification of the cancellation order itself, nor did it delve into the merits of the petitioner's claim of unawareness or the revenue's grounds for cancellation, opting instead for a procedural resolution.
Facts
The petitioner, M/s. Royal Engineers, filed a writ petition challenging the order dated 26.08.2023 passed by the Deputy State Tax Officer, Secunderabad STU - 2 Circle, cancelling their GST registration. The cancellation was based on the grounds of non-payment of arrears of Rs. 11.99 lakhs towards interest and non-filing of returns. The petitioner contended that the non-filing of returns was due to reliance on their accountant and that they were unaware of the show cause notice, asserting no intentional delay. The petitioner sought revocation of the cancellation and activation of their registration.
Key Issues
1. Whether the cancellation of the petitioner's GST registration by the Deputy State Tax Officer was illegal and unjustified, violating principles of natural justice, in light of the petitioner's submission of unawareness of the show cause notice due to reliance on an accountant. Petitioner's arguments: The petitioner argued that the non-filing of returns was not intentional but due to reliance on their accountant, and they were unaware of the show cause notice. They sought a direction for the competent authority to manually entertain their application for revocation of cancellation and decide it in accordance with law. Revenue's arguments: The Department submitted that the cancellation was based on the apparent reasons of non-payment of arrears towards interest and non-filing of returns.
Sections Cited
FORM GST REG-19
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
[ 3518 ] IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEil/BER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY SIX PRESENT THE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE APARESH KUMAR SINGH AND THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE VAKITI RAMAKRISHNA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO: 30485 OF 2026 Between: M/s. Royal Engineers, rep. by its Proprietor Mr. Devireddy Chandra Sekhar Reddy, S/o. D. Venkateshwara Reddy, Aged. 52 Years, Occ: Business # 2-1-8-133/NR, Saraswathi Nagar Colony, Nagole Road, Uppal, Medchal- Malkajgiri. Telangana - 500039. ...PETITIONER AND 1. The Deputy State Tax Officer, Secunderabad STU - 2 Circle, Secunderabad Division, Hyderabad.
The State Tax Officer (ST), Uppal Circle, Uppal Division, Hyderabad.
The Assistant Commissioner (ST), Uppal Circle, Uppal Division, Hyderabad.
The State of Telangana, Represented by its Principal Secretary, (Revenue), Secretariat, Hyderabad.
Union of lndia, rep. by its Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of lndia, 3'd Floor, Jeevan Deep Building, Sansad Marg, New Delhi-'l 10 001. ...RESPONDENTS Petition under Arlicle 226 of the Constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstances stated i
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