Finding that there was clear concealment of material facts for more than two years by the Petitioner regarding its unawareness of the cancellation of its GST registration with retrospective effect from the year 2018, the Delhi High Court dismissed the petition with a cost of ₹ 25,000 to be deposited with the Delhi High Court Bar Association on the ground that the bona fides of the Petitioner as an exporter was under question from previous petitions.
The Court therefore ruled that “when the GST registration itself has been cancelled in 2018, obviously, no refund can be granted till the said GST registration of the Petitioner is restored”. (Para 13)
The Division Bench comprising Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Shail Jain observed that the petition also fails to mention the factum of cancellation of GST registration, despite the same having been cancelled in 2023 with retrospective effect from 2018. The Bench also found that the earlier writ petition was also withdrawn, and no personal hearing was attended by the Petitioner.
Briefly, the Petitioner was classified as a risky exporter through a letter received from the Superintendent, CGST Audit-1 Commissionerate, Delhi. Even though the Petitioner had provided the shipping bills and relevant documents, seeking entitlement to a refund of ₹ 1.19 crores, the same was denied to it. Hence, the Petitioner has sought for release of the IGST refund along with interest.
Finding that repeated queries to the Petitioner as to whether they are aware that their GST registration has been cancelled since 2023, remained unanswered to the satisfaction of this Court, the High Court dismissed the petition with costs, while granting liberty to the petitioner to avail of its remedies for restoration of its GST registration and thereafter, for any refunds, as per law.
Appearances:
Advocate Akhil Krishnan Maggu, for the Petitioner
Advocates K G Gopalakrishnan, Nisha Mohandas, Girish Kumar Kaul, Jayesh Khandelwal, Harpreet Singh, M R Sanidhya Sharma, Jai Ahuja, and Vanshika Kapoor