The Uttarakhand High Court has continued its consistent practice of permitting taxpayers whose GST registration was cancelled for non-filing of returns to seek revocation of cancellation on furnishing pending returns and clearing outstanding tax, interest and penalty.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner, Bipin Chandra Kapri, a taxable person registered under the GST Act, 2017, had his GST registration cancelled by an order passed by the competent authority in the State Goods and Services Tax Commissionerate, Dehradun, for failure to furnish GST returns for the prescribed period. Aggrieved by the cancellation order, the petitioner filed the present writ petition seeking relief on terms similar to those granted in earlier orders of the Court in comparable cases.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether a taxpayer whose GST registration has been cancelled for non-filing of returns is entitled to seek revocation of cancellation upon filing the pending returns and paying tax, interest and penalty due.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner's counsel relied on the Court's consistent line of orders — most recently in Writ Petition (M/B) No.408 of 2025, itself following Writ Petition (M/B) No.71 of 2025 and Writ Petition (M/B) No.39 of 2025 — where similarly situated taxpayers were permitted to apply for revocation of cancellation on filing pending returns and clearing dues.
  • It was submitted that the facts of the present case are not in dispute and are similarly situated to the precedents relied upon, warranting disposal on the same terms.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The learned Brief Holder for the State submitted that the facts are not in dispute and, consistent with the department's stand in the earlier connected matters, had no objection to the petitioner being permitted to move an application for revocation of the cancellation order.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Court noted that it has been disposing of several similar petitions on identical terms where cancellation was on account of non-filing of periodic returns and the petitioners undertook to pay tax, interest and penalty.
  • The Court held that such relief causes no prejudice or loss to the department, while protecting the taxpayer's fundamental right to carry on trade or business, and allowed the writ petition on the terms recorded in Writ Petition (M/B) No.408 of 2025.
  • The petitioner was permitted to move an application for revocation of the cancellation order; on filing such application together with all pending returns and payment of unpaid tax, interest and penalty, the Competent Authority was directed to consider the prayer for revocation as per law within four weeks of receipt of the application.
  • No order as to costs was made, and pending applications, if any, were closed as a sequel.

Important Clarification

  • Where GST registration has been cancelled solely for non-filing of periodic returns, and the taxpayer is willing to file all pending returns and pay the outstanding tax, interest and penalty, courts treat this as a case causing no prejudice to revenue and consistently permit revocation applications to be considered on merits, in preference to permanently foreclosing the right to carry on business.
  • The Competent Authority is required to decide such a revocation application within a fixed time frame (typically four weeks) once the pending returns are filed and dues are cleared.

Sections Involved

  • Section 29, CGST Act, 2017 — cancellation of GST registration, including for continued non-filing of returns.
  • Section 30, CGST Act, 2017 — application for revocation of cancellation of registration.

Decision – In Favour of

The writ petition was allowed in favour of the Assessee, with the Uttarakhand High Court permitting the petitioner to apply for revocation of the GST registration cancellation, subject to filing all pending returns and paying tax, interest and penalty, with a time-bound direction to the department to decide the application.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital
  • Case No.: Writ Petition (M/B) No.1059 of 2025
  • Coram: Hon'ble the Chief Justice Mr. G. Narendar and Hon'ble Sri Justice Subhash Upadhyay
  • Date of Judgment: 11 December 2025
  • Parties: Bipin Chandra Kapri vs Commissioner, State Goods and Services Tax, Commissionerate, Dehradun & Another

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