In a significant ruling, the Madras High Court has permitted the businesses to file returns for the period prior to the cancellation of GST Registration and make payment of tax dues along with interest. The Single Judge, while reiterating the order passed on 31st January this year, also advised the State to instruct GSTN to make necessary changes in the portal to facilitate these changes.
Justice Anita Sumanth was considering a bunch of writ petitions where the petitioners have missed several opportunities that were extended to them post-cancellation of the registrations by way of Amnesty Schemes wherein dealers were granted extension of time to take necessary steps to restore the cancelled registrations.
The Act contains two in built modes to enable revocation of cancellation or restoration thereof. The first is the remedy under Section 30 which benefit has to be availed within thirty days from date of cancellation of order. None of these petitioners in this batch have filed application in terms of Section 30.The second remedy relates to filing of an appeal before the Appellate Authority and has to be availed within a period of three months from the date of communication of the cancellation order to the dealer.
The Court recalled that the Single Judge by way of an order dated 31.01.2022, considered the cases of identically placed petitioners. In the cases of those petitioners as well, orders of revocation had been passedand some of the petitioners had approached the assessing authority in terms of Section 30 seeking revocation, some had appealed the orders of cancellation under Section 107 and others had merely approached the Court.
“The learned Judge has considered interim events including the position that Amnesty Schemes had not been availed by those petitioners. In fine, the learned Judge accepts the case of the petitioners, imposing certain conditions in para 229 of the order. A specific query was put to the State Counsel as to whether order dated 31.01.2022 has attained finality. He brings to my notice a communication that has been addressed by the Additional Chief Secretary/Commissioner of Commissioner of Commercial Tax to the GST Council on 31.03.2022 seeking the view of the Council and its guidance/directions in regard to the order of this Court dated 31.01.2022.There has been no response to the above communication and the State, like Samuel Beckett’s Godot, has merely been waiting, much past the time for filing of writ appeal before this Court. In my view, this tantamounts to their having accepted the order of this Court dated 31.01.2022 as a conscious decision has been taken by the State to let the limitation slip,” the Court observed.
Observing that the State confirmed the directions as set out in order dated 31.01.2022 have been implemented in the case of all those petitioners, the Court held that “i. The petitioners are permitted to file their returns for the period prior to the cancellation of registration, if such returns have not been already filed, together with tax defaulted which has not been paid prior to cancellation along with interest for such belated payment of tax and fine and fee fixed for belated filing of returns for the defaulted period under the provisions of the Act, within a period of forty five (45) days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, if it has not been already paid. ii. It is made clear that such payment of Tax, Interest, fine/fee and etc. shall not be allowed to be made or adjusted from and out of any Input Tax Credit which may be lying unutilized or unclaimed in the hands of these petitioners. iii. On payment of tax, penalty and uploading of returns, the registration shall stand revived forthwith. iv. The respondents shall take suitable steps by instructing GST Network, New Delhi to make suitable charges in the architecture of the GST Web Portal to allow these petitioners to file their returns and to pay the tax/penalty/fine. v. The above exercise shall be carried out by the respondents within a period of forty five (45) days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
