GSTIN Inactivity Blocks Appeal Process: Calcutta HC Steps Directs Reactivation of Ashirvad Food Products’ GST Portal [Read Order]
The court directed the authorities to reactivate the GSTIN for completing the appellate process
The Calcutta High Court has directed the GST ( Goods and Services Tax ) department to reactivate the GSTIN (Goods and Services Tax Identification Number) of the Ashirvad Food Products for paying the pre-deposit for filing the appeal.
M/s Ashirvad Food Products Pvt. Ltd., a registered assessee under the GST 2017, approached the Court after being unable to validate its appeal against an order dated January 17, 2025 for the tax period April 2020 to March 2021.
Though the company filed its appeal offline, the law mandates a pre-deposit for the appeal to be maintainable, and such deposit could only be made through the GST portal. Since the assessee’s portal, linked to GSTIN was showing as “inactive,” the petitioner was left remediless and forced to seek judicial intervention.
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On behalf of the petitioner, it was argued that despite valid registration under the GST Act, the inactivation of the GSTIN had deprived the company of its right to appeal.
The State authorities clarified that the registration had not been cancelled, but only reflected as inactive.
The Court noted that this technical irregularity was not merely an administrative lapse but one that frustrated a substantive legal right. In earlier proceedings, the Court had also added the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) as a necessary party to ensure that the issue could be addressed effectively.
Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury, while disposing of the matter, held that there was no purpose in prolonging the writ petition. Thus, the Court directed the GSTN to reactivate the company’s portal within four weeks.
Also, to protect the petitioner during this period, the bench stayed the effect of the disputed order dated January 17, 2025, for six weeks, or until two weeks after the portal’s activation, whichever was later, but clarified that such stay would not extend beyond November 2025.
It was also directed that, once the portal is reactivated, the petitioner would be able to make the statutory pre-deposit, after which the pending appeal would be treated as valid and heard on merits by the appellate authority.
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