Assessee is Responsible to Monitor GST portal on GST Registration Cancellation: Kerala HC upholds Cancellation of Registration [Read Order]

In a significant ruling the Kerala High Court upheld the cancellation of Goods and Service Tax (GST) Registration and ruled that the assessee is responsible to monitor GST portal on GST registration cancellation.

The petitioner’s, Koduvayur Constructions, case is that it was a registered dealer under the Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST)/State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) Acts, 2017. The petitioner’s GST registration was cancelled with effect from 30.9.2021. The petitioner was under the impression that it had no liability to pay the respondents under the above Acts. However, the petitioner has been served with an order on the GST portal, calling upon the petitioner to pay an amount of Rs.19,22,566/-.

There has been no effective service of notice on the petitioner by the respondents and it was contended that the unreasonable demand raised by the respondents through the assessment order is unjustifiable. Hence, the writ petition.

The petitioner contended that the petitioner was under the bona fide belief that it has no further liability under the CGST/SGST Acts. But, the first respondent has issued the petitioner with assessment order demanding the petitioner to pay an amount of Rs.19,22,566/-. The petitioner alleged that it was not served with proper notice as provided under the CGST Act. Hence, the entire proceedings is vitiated and the same is liable to be quashed.

Section 169 of the CGST Act, 2017 deals with the manner in which service of notice to be carried out in certain circumstances.

The Court of Justices CS Dias observed that “It was the bounden duty of the petitioner to have verified its common portal that is made available as per the provision. Thus, I am of the definite view that the contentions raised in the writ petition that Ext P1 assessment order was not served as per the provisions of the Act is untenable. The writ petition is meritless and is consequentially dismissed.”

Alan Priyadarshi Dev, the counsel appeared for the petitioner and Thushara James, the Senior Government Pleader appeared for the respondents.

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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