The Delhi High Court recently clarified that if the Show Cause Notice (SCN) does not contemplate retrospective cancellation, no order can be passed directing the retrospective cancellation. The Court noted that without even contemplating the retrospective cancellation of the GST registration in the initial SCN, the order has gone much beyond the reasons stated in the SCN, as the Petitioner has never been put to notice that it was not existing in the business premises.
The Division Bench comprising Justice Pratibha M. Singh and Justice Shail Jain observed that upon the pending returns and payment of taxes being paid with interest and a late fee, the proper officer ought to have passed the order in FORM GST REG-20. Instead, he passed an order for cancellation on the ground that the Petitioner was non-existent on the premises during physical verification.
The Bench therefore quashed the impugned order for cancellation of GST registration, and allowed the petition in favour of the taxpayer.
Briefly, in this case, the order for retrospective cancellation of the GST registration has been challenged, with the grievance that the SCN merely called upon the Petitioner to show cause as to why its registration should not be cancelled for non-filing of the returns for the prescribed period. However, when the returns have in fact been filed by the Petitioner after issuance of such SCN, the registration was cancelled instead of dropping the proceedings.
Appearances:
Advocates Gaurav Gupta and Jaspal Singh, for the Petitioner/ Taxpayer
Advocates Akash Verma and Aanchal Uppal, for the Respondent/ Revenue
