Facts of the Case

The petitioner, M/s Chandra Traders, Berhampur, had its registration under the Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 cancelled by order dated 8th May, 2024, pursuant to a show cause notice dated 24th April, 2024, issued by the Commissionerate of CT & GST, Odisha. By the time the petitioner approached the High Court, the statutory window for seeking revocation of that cancellation had already lapsed. The petitioner nevertheless expressed readiness and willingness to pay all tax, interest, late fee, penalty and other dues so that its pending returns could be accepted by the department, and sought condonation of the delay in invoking the proviso to Rule 23 of the Odisha GST Rules, 2017 for filing its revocation application.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether delay in invoking the proviso to Rule 23 of the OGST Rules for revocation of cancellation of registration can be condoned by a writ court.
  2. Whether such condonation can be made conditional on clearing outstanding statutory dues rather than granted unconditionally.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • Relied on the coordinate Bench decision in M/s Mohanty Enterprises v. The Commissioner, CT & GST, Odisha (W.P.(C) No.30374 of 2022), which condoned identical delay subject to deposit of all dues.
  • Submitted that its claim to relief, including the prayer for condonation of delay, was squarely covered by the reasoning in Mohanty Enterprises.
  • Submitted unqualified willingness to pay all tax, interest, late fee and penalty due, and to comply with other formalities, to enable acceptance of its return.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The Additional Standing Counsel appeared for the Department but did not dispute the applicability of the Mohanty Enterprises precedent to the facts of this case.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Division Bench reproduced and applied paragraph 2 of Mohanty Enterprises verbatim to the present facts.
  • It condoned the delay in invoking the Rule 23 proviso, subject to the petitioner depositing all taxes, interest, late fee, penalty etc. due and complying with other formalities.
  • Directed that, once the dues are cleared, the petitioner's application for revocation of cancellation be considered on its own merits in accordance with law.
  • The writ petition was disposed of, the Court observing that the petitioner "gets the relief in the interest of revenue."

Important Clarification

  • Where a registered person seeks revocation of cancellation of GST registration beyond the time prescribed under Rule 23 of the State GST Rules, courts routinely condone such delay conditional on clearing all outstanding tax, interest, late fee and penalty.
  • The underlying rationale is that accepting overdue returns and recovering dues serves the interest of revenue better than a permanent cancellation over procedural delay.
  • The relief is conditional, not absolute — the revocation application is still to be examined and decided on its own merits once the pre-condition of clearing dues is met.

Sections Involved

  • Rule 23, Odisha Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 — governs the application for revocation of cancellation of registration and the ordinary time limit therefor.
  • Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — the substantive statute under which the registration stood cancelled.

Decision – In Favour of

The order is in favour of the Assessee, granting conditional relief subject to clearance of all outstanding dues before the revocation application is taken up.

Case Details

Court: High Court of Orissa at Cuttack
Case No.: W.P.(C) No.31494 of 2025
Coram: Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M.S. Raman
Date of Order: 05.12.2025

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