The Delhi High Court set aside the order cancelling Goods and Service Tax (GST) as the show cause notice Cancellation of GST Registration does not mention Fraud or Suppression.
M/S Maa Jhandewali Traders, the petitioner sought for the restoration of the GST registration of the petitioner that has been cancelled by order dated 21.07.2023. The petitioner submitted that the show cause notice which led to the impugned cancellation order did not contain the very basic details. He submitted that the show cause notice was issued on the ground that the registration was obtained by misstatement or suppression of facts.
He submitted that the show cause notice does not contain any specifics of the alleged fraud, misstatement or suppression. The show cause notice required the petitioner to appear before the signatory of the notice, however, neither any name nor designation of the officer was disclosed in the show cause notice.
The respondent submitted that the show cause notice is uploaded on the portal which is accessible by the tax-payers. Further submitted that the action was taken because the Deputy Commissioner (AE) CGST, Delhi (North) had informed that the petitioner firm was non-existent at the subject address.
It was evident from the record that the petitioner had replied to the show cause notice and requested 4-5 days’ time to respond to the show cause notice as he was unable to personally attend being out of the station.
The Court observed that since the petitioner has responded to the show cause notice and filed a reply which is not commensurate with the reasons mentioned for the cancellation.
A division bench of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Ravinder Dudeja set aside the cancellation order and granted one week to file a detailed response to the show cause notice. Thereafter, the authority shall dispose of the show cause notice within 30 days.
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