Facts of the Case

Dhirendra Sharma, a taxable person registered under the GST Act, 2017, had his GST registration cancelled by order of the Assistant Commissioner, Haridwar, on account of failure to furnish GST returns for the prescribed period, pursuant to a show cause notice. He filed a writ petition before the High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital challenging the cancellation order, before the Commissioner, State Goods & Service Tax. Both counsel agreed that the matter was directly covered by an earlier order of the same Court in Writ Petition (M/B) No.71 of 2025, itself following Writ Petition (M/B) No.39 of 2025, in which an identically placed taxpayer was granted specific conditional relief. The Division Bench, comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Subhash Upadhyay, decided the present petition on 25.09.2025.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether a taxpayer whose GST registration was cancelled for non-filing of returns should be permitted to apply for revocation of the cancellation, subject to clearing pending compliance.
  2. Whether the relief already crafted in an earlier coordinate Bench order for a similarly placed taxpayer should be extended to the petitioner on the same terms.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner's counsel submitted that the facts were not in dispute and that the case was squarely covered by the earlier order in Writ Petition (M/B) No.39 of 2025, where a similarly placed taxpayer was permitted to apply for revocation of cancellation.
  • It was urged that a similar order, granting the petitioner liberty to move an application for revocation, subject to filing pending returns and depositing due tax, interest and penalty, be passed in the present case as well.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The Brief Holder for the State did not object to the petitioner being permitted to move an appropriate application for revocation of the cancellation order, agreeing that the case was on similar footing to the earlier decided matters.

Court Order / Findings

  • Both counsel being in agreement on the facts and the applicability of the earlier coordinate Bench precedent, the Court disposed of the writ petition in terms of the relief granted in the earlier order dated 24.02.2025 (Writ Petition (S/B) No.39 of 2025), permitting the petitioner to move an application for revocation of the cancellation order.
  • If the petitioner makes such an application within two weeks and furnishes all pending returns along with unpaid tax, interest and penalty, the Competent Authority is required to consider the prayer for revocation as per law within four weeks of receiving the application.
  • The writ petition was disposed of accordingly, with no order as to costs.

Important Clarification

  • Registration cancelled for non-filing of GST returns can be revoked on an application made within a court-fixed window, conditioned on the taxpayer first filing all pending returns and clearing due tax, interest and penalty.
  • Where a batch of similarly placed taxpayers approaches the Court on identical facts, relief crafted in one matter is extended to subsequent petitioners as a matter of consistency, without re-examining the underlying cancellation on its merits.
  • The Competent Authority is bound by a fixed timeline (typically four weeks) to decide the revocation application once the conditions are met.

Sections Involved

  • Section 29, CGST Act, 2017 — governs cancellation of GST registration, including for continuous non-filing of returns.
  • Section 30, CGST Act, 2017 — governs revocation of cancellation of registration, the relief sought and granted in this matter.

Decision – In Favour of

Decided in favour of the assessee. The petitioner was granted liberty to seek revocation of the cancellation on conditions, with the Competent Authority bound to decide the application within a fixed timeframe.

Case Details

Court: High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital
Case No.: Writ Petition (M/B) No.806 of 2025
Neutral Citation: 2025:UHC:8724-DB
Coram: Hon'ble the Chief Justice Sri G. Narendar and Hon'ble Sri Justice Subhash Upadhyay
Date of Decision: 25.09.2025

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