Facts of the Case

M/s Ishwara Chandra Dandapat, Keonjhar, had its registration cancelled by order dated 17th August, 2023, pursuant to a show cause notice dated 28th July, 2023, under the State GST Act. The petitioner approached the Orissa High Court against the Principal Commissioner of Central GST, Bhubaneswar, seeking condonation of the delay in seeking revocation, expressing readiness to pay all tax, interest, late fee, penalty and any other sum required for its returns to be accepted.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the delay in invoking Rule 23 of the OGST Rules to seek revocation of a cancelled GST registration should be condoned where the assessee undertakes to pay all outstanding statutory dues.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner was ready and willing to pay the tax, interest, late fee, penalty and any other sum required so that his returns would be accepted by the department, and his claim for delay condonation was covered by the earlier order in M/s. Mohanty Enterprises v. The Commissioner, CT & GST, Odisha (W.P.(C) No.30374 of 2022, decided 16.11.2022).

Respondent's Arguments

  • The Senior Standing Counsel and Standing Counsel for the CT & GST/Central GST Department appeared but are not recorded as opposing extension of the established Mohanty Enterprises formula.

Court Order / Findings

  • Reproducing the operative paragraph from Mohanty Enterprises, the Court reiterated that delay in invoking the proviso to Rule 23 of the OGST Rules stands condoned, and that subject to the petitioner depositing all taxes, interest, late fee, penalty etc. due and complying with other formalities, the revocation application will be considered in accordance with law.
  • The same direction was extended to the present petitioner in the interest of revenue, and the writ petition was disposed of accordingly.

Important Clarification

  • The Orissa High Court continues to apply its settled Mohanty Enterprises formula uniformly across similarly placed petitioners: delay in seeking revocation of a cancelled GST registration is condoned on an undertaking to clear all statutory dues, without separately scrutinising the individual facts justifying the delay.
  • This template relief reopens only the revocation route; it does not adjudicate whether the original cancellation was correct on the merits.

Sections Involved

  • Section 29, CGST Act, 2017 – governs cancellation and revocation of registration.
  • Rule 23, Odisha GST Rules, 2017 – prescribes the procedure and time limit for revocation applications, the provision at issue.

Decision – In Favour of

The writ petition was disposed of in favour of the assessee, with the delay condoned and the revocation route reopened subject to full payment of dues.

Case Details

Court: High Court of Orissa at Cuttack. Case No.: W.P.(C) No.33540 of 2025. Coram: Hon'ble the Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Hon'ble Mr. Justice Murahari Sri Raman. Date of Order: 27th November, 2025.

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