The Patna High Court Division bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Partha Sarathy while entertaining a Writ Petition through Video conferencing, quashed the order of Joint Commissioner of State Taxes (JCST) and restored the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Registration of the petitioner.
According to the facts of this petition, the JCST revoked the petitioner’s GST registration in accordance with Section 29 of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, since the data of the returns for a particular time was not being uploaded.
Anurag Saurav and Abhinav Alok, the petitioner’s representatives, argued that the respondent authorities made an ex parte decision to terminate the petitioner’s GST registration without allowing an opportunity to be heard. They pleaded for the order to be overturned.
Additionally urged that the HC instruct the responding authority to reinstate the GST Registration of the petitioner and following its revocation of cancellation they are ready to submit its earlier year’s returns within fifteen days of the date of the court’s order.
The authority should have at least alluded to the content of the show cause and the answer to it, the bench noted, but it did not. The order is silent, as well as being cryptic in character with no obvious indication of the cancellation’s cause.
The court stated that the principles of natural justice were violated and the order needs to be quashed as it entails penal and pecuniary consequences.
Furthermore, it was stated that the petitioner consistently filed its return on time. And as per the submissions made by the counsels of the petitioner, the information of the returns for a certain period was not being uploaded was due to the Covid Pandemic which is not in the hands of the petitioner.
As a result, the bench ordered to revoke the contested ruling of JCST and instructed the relevant authority to complete the petitioner’s assessment orders in compliance with the law.
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