Facts of the Case

The petitioner, Tvl. Thendral Recreation Club, represented by its Secretary, had its GST registration (GSTIN 33AAGAT4058G1Z1) cancelled by order dated 21.03.2023 (Reference No. ZA330323105569Q). The petitioner claimed it was unaware of the cancellation until informed by other taxpayers, and only then filed a statutory appeal, which the Appellate Authority rejected as barred by limitation. The petitioner approached the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking to quash the cancellation and direct revocation of its registration, relying on the Court's own directions in the well-known batch ruling Tvl. Suguna Cutpiece Centre v. Appellate Deputy Commissioner (ST) (GST) (W.P.Nos.25048, 25877, 12738 of 2021 etc., decided 31.01.2022).

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the appellate rejection on limitation grounds precluded relief given the circumstances of the petitioner's delayed awareness of cancellation.
  2. Whether the conditions and directions issued in Suguna Cutpiece Centre for restoration of cancelled registrations should be extended to the petitioner.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner argued that, in identical circumstances, this Court in Suguna Cutpiece Centre had issued detailed directions (Paragraph 229) permitting restoration of cancelled registrations on filing pending returns with tax, interest, fine and fee, subject to safeguards on utilisation of accumulated Input Tax Credit, and that the same benefit should be extended here, especially since that line of decisions had been consistently followed and never challenged by the Revenue.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The Senior Standing Counsel for the Revenue submitted that the Appellate Authority could not disregard the statutory limitation prescribed for filing an appeal, and that rejection of the admittedly time-barred appeal was legally sustainable.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Court reproduced the detailed twelve-point directions from Paragraph 229 of Suguna Cutpiece Centre — requiring filing of pending returns with due tax, interest, fine and fee within 45 days; barring adjustment of such dues from unutilised/unclaimed ITC without scrutiny; permitting only departmentally-approved ITC to be utilised thereafter; requiring correct-value returns and cash-mode GST payment for the post-cancellation period; and reviving registration on compliance — and noted this framework had been consistently followed in subsequent rulings, unchallenged by the Revenue, and had attained finality.
  • The Court held that the benefit extended in Suguna Cutpiece Centre and its line of consistently-followed successor rulings should be extended to the present petitioner as well, and quashed the impugned cancellation, directing the respondents to follow the same Paragraph 229 directions.
  • The writ petition was accordingly ordered with no costs.

Important Clarification

  • Where a taxpayer's GST registration is cancelled for non-filing of returns and the statutory appeal fails on limitation, the Madras High Court has consistently extended the conditional restoration framework from Suguna Cutpiece Centre — filing of pending returns with tax/interest/fee, restricted utilisation of unscrutinised ITC, and cash-mode payment thereafter — to revive the registration, rather than leaving the taxpayer permanently deregistered.

Sections Involved

  • Section 29, Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 – cancellation of registration for continuous default in filing returns.
  • Section 30, Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 – revocation of cancellation, the process directed to follow the Suguna Cutpiece Centre framework here.

Decision – In Favour of

The decision is in favour of the Assessee — the cancellation order was quashed and restoration directed subject to the conditional Suguna Cutpiece Centre framework.

Case Details

Court: Madurai Bench of Madras High Court
Case No.: W.P.(MD) No.23075 of 2023
Coram: Justice S. Srimathy
Date of Order: 21.09.2023

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