📰 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗡𝗼𝗻-𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗕𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 📢 Non-submission of a reply is not sufficient grounds for registration cancellation.

🔍 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁: Allahabad High Court 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: Writ Tax No. 39 of 2023 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 17-Feb-2023

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: The petitioner, Meerarch Construction, a sole proprietorship owned by Ms. Archana Singh, is engaged in civil work contracts and was registered under the GST Act. The firm had failed to file GST returns, leading to a Show Cause Notice (SCN) on 02-Jun-2021, which directed the petitioner to respond within seven working days. The petitioner contended that they did not receive the SCN in time and therefore could not submit a reply within the stipulated period. Subsequently, an order was passed canceling the petitioner’s GST registration. On 04-Jan-2023, the petitioner filed an appeal against the cancellation order, which was dismissed by the appellate authority due to delay.

⚖ 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The High Court ruled in favor of the petitioner, holding that non-submission of a reply is not, by itself, a valid ground for canceling GST registration. The court referenced a similar ruling in Technosun India Pvt. Limited, Lucknow vs Union of India, where it was held that non-reply to an SCN, due to extenuating circumstances like the death of a parent or COVID-19 restrictions, does not justify cancellation.

📜 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲s that procedural delays or the inability to respond should not lead to punitive cancellation of GST registration, allowing businesses a fair opportunity to rectify procedural lapses. 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗚𝗦𝗧𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗮 📞 7503031378