The Delhi High Court has set aside the order of retrospective cancellation of GST registration, holding that the order is completely silent on the retrospective cancellation. The bench comprising Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Shail Jain further noted that the Show Cause Notice did not mention the retrospective cancellation, and the same cannot be given by the impugned order.
The case arose from a Show Cause Notice issued to the petitioner on April 5, 2023, proposing the cancellation of its GST registration on the grounds of fraud and suppression of facts. The petitioner replied with a new operational address, but the department did not conduct any physical inspection at the said address and passed an order without giving any reference to the reply. The petitioner filed an appeal, but the same was dismissed on the ground of limitation, leading to the present writ petition.
The Court observed that the order of cancellation and the Show Cause Notice were absolutely silent on the retrospective cancellation. The bench further observed that the order does not consider the reply filed to the SCN. Referring on the previous decision in Subhana Fashion v. Commissioner Delhi Goods and Service Tax (W.P. (C) 12255/2024), M/S Balaji Industries v. The Principal Commissioner CGST Delhi North Commissionerate & Anr. (W.P.(C) 11913/2024) and Ridhi Sidhi Enterprises v. Commissioner of Goods & Service Tax (CGST), South Delhi & Anr. (W.P.(C) 8061/2024), wherein the court held that retrospective cancellation cannot be given effect without being mentioned in the SCN.
Accordingly, the High Court set aside the retrospective cancellation order and directed the access of the GST portal within one week to the petitioner, to file all due returns along with the interest.
Appearance:
For the Petitioner: Advocate Nitin Gulati and Reena Gandhi
For the Respondents: SSC Anushree Narain, along with Advoctae Naman Choula and Yamit Jetley.
