Facts of the Case

The matter was taken up through hybrid mode. The petitioner, Rahul Kumar Satapathy, had his registration under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 cancelled by order dated 30.10.2023, pursuant to a show cause notice dated 08.08.2023, before the Commissioner of Central Goods and Services Tax, Bhubaneswar. By the time he approached the High Court, the statutory window for filing an application for revocation of that cancellation had already lapsed. He nonetheless expressed readiness and willingness to pay all tax, interest, late fee, penalty and any other sum due so that his pending returns could be accepted by the Department, and sought condonation of the delay in invoking the proviso to Rule 23 of the CGST Rules, 2017 for filing the revocation application.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether delay in invoking the proviso to Rule 23 of the CGST Rules for revocation of cancellation of registration can be condoned by a writ court.
  2. Whether such condonation can be conditioned 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 in invoking Rule 23 subject to deposit of all dues.
  • Submitted that his claim to relief, including the prayer for condonation of delay, was squarely covered by the reasoning in Mohanty Enterprises.
  • Submitted unconditional willingness to pay all tax, interest, late fee and penalty due, and to comply with all other formalities for his returns to be accepted.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The Junior Standing Counsel for GST, Central Excise and Customs appeared for the Department and did not contest the applicability of the Mohanty Enterprises precedent to the facts of this case.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Division Bench reproduced paragraph 2 of Mohanty Enterprises and applied it verbatim to the present facts.
  • 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 revocation application be considered on its own merits in accordance with law.
  • Disposed of the writ petition, the Court observing that the petitioner "gets the relief in the interest of revenue."

Important Clarification

  • Courts consistently condone delay by a taxpayer in seeking revocation of GST registration cancellation beyond the Rule 23 window, provided the taxpayer commits to clearing all outstanding tax, interest, late fee and penalty.
  • Accepting overdue compliance and recovering dues is treated as serving the interest of revenue better than allowing a permanent cancellation to stand on account of delay alone.
  • Such relief is conditional, not absolute — the revocation application still has to be examined and decided on its own merits once the pre-condition of clearing dues is satisfied.

Sections Involved

  • Rule 23, Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 — governs the application for revocation of cancellation of registration, ordinarily to be filed within the prescribed period from service of the cancellation order.
  • Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — the substantive statute under which the petitioner's registration stood cancelled for the relevant defaults.

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.: WP(C) No.18351 of 2025
Coram: Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M.S. Raman
Date of Order: 17.07.2025

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