Inordinate Delay of 17 Months in GST Appeal Without Sufficient Cause: Supreme Court upholds Registration Cancellation [Read Order]
Supreme Court upholds GST registration cancellation of Bokna Raiyat Rojgar Committee due to inordinate 17-month delay in filing appeal without sufficient cause.
Inordinate Delay - GST Appeal - Sufficient Cause - Supreme Court - upholds Registration - taxscan
Inordinate Delay - GST Appeal - Sufficient Cause - Supreme Court - upholds Registration - taxscan
The Supreme Court of India upheld the cancellation of GST registration of Bokna Raiyat Rojgar Committee, ruling that the firm had failed to file its appeal within the prescribed time and did not offer a sufficient explanation for the inordinate delay of 17 months.
Bokna Raiyat Rojgar Committee, a partnership firm engaged in transportation services, had its GST registration cancelled on 12 May 2022 under Section 29 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017. The cancellation was based on the firm’s continuous failure to file GSTreturns for more than six months.
Although the firm filed a reply to the show cause notice issued in March 2022, the GST department proceeded with cancellation after following due process. The firm later attempted to challenge the cancellation by filing an appeal before the Appellate Authority.
The appeal was filed after a delay of approximately 17 months, far beyond the time permitted under Section 107 of the CGST Act. The Appellate Authority rejected the appeal, holding that it was time-barred and the law did not allow condonation of such a long delay.
The petitioner then filed a writ petition before the Jharkhand High Court, arguing that the delay in filing the appeal was caused by illness of the managing partner and delayed payments from service recipients. The petitioner’s counsel argued that these circumstances had made it impossible to file GST returns on time and to challenge the cancellation earlier. The counsel also argued that the firm was willing to comply with tax obligations if the registration was restored.
The Revenue Department argued that the cancellation was lawful and based on admitted non-compliance. They submitted that the time limit to file an appeal against cancellation is strictly laid down in Section 107 (three months with a grace period of one additional month). The department argued that neither the Appellate Authority nor the High Court had the power to condone the delay.
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After hearing both parties, the High Court held that the appeal was filed well beyond the statutory limit, and no provision in the CGST Act allowed condonation of such an extended delay. The court observed that the petitioner had not given a satisfactory explanation for waiting more than a year after cancellation. The High Court dismissed the writ petition and upheld the registration cancellation.
The petitioner then filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court of India. The bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Augustine George Masih heard the matter. The Supreme Court condoned the delay in refiling the petition but did not find any error in the High Court’s reasoning.
The court agreed that there was no sufficient cause for the 17-month delay and held that the GST law provides no scope to condone such extended lapses. The Court dismissed the Special Leave Petition and upheld the High Court’s ruling.
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