Facts of the Case

The petitioner, M/s. V Ramu, represented by its proprietor Ramu Vilasagaram and holding GSTIN 36AFFPV6630K1ZZ, had its GST registration cancelled by order dated 24.02.2023 in Form GST REG-19 for non-filing of returns for a continuous period of six months. The petitioner's time-barred appeal against the cancellation was dismissed on the ground of delay, following which the petitioner filed the present writ petition seeking revocation of the cancellation.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the petitioner should be permitted to file an application for revocation of cancellation of GST registration manually, where the online GST portal did not permit such filing due to expiry of the time limit.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • There were no outstanding GST dues, and non-filing of returns occurred because the petitioner's accountant stopped filing returns due to personal inconvenience following the COVID-19 pandemic, without informing the petitioner, and the petitioner remained unaware of the show cause notice.
  • The GST portal did not permit filing an application for revocation of cancellation as it was beyond the prescribed time limit; hence the respondent should be directed to entertain the application manually.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The Special Government Pleader for State Tax had no instructions on whether outstanding dues remained, but confirmed that cancellation was on account of non-filing of returns for a continuous period of six months.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Division Bench, taking note that cancellation was for non-filing of returns for six consecutive months and that the online portal barred a time-barred application, held that if the petitioner approaches the competent authority within one week with a physical application for revocation, the authority shall entertain it and decide within three weeks thereafter, in accordance with law.
  • The writ petition was disposed of accordingly, with no order as to costs.

Important Clarification

  • Where the GST online portal's time-bar prevents a taxpayer from filing an application for revocation of registration cancellation, the taxpayer may be permitted by the High Court to file the application manually/physically before the competent authority, who must then examine and decide it in accordance with law.

Sections Involved

  • Form GST REG-19, CGST Rules, 2017 — order of cancellation of registration for non-filing of returns.
  • Revocation of cancellation of registration provisions, CGST Act, 2017 — application for revocation, ordinarily filed online.

Decision – In Favour of

Disposed of with directions, in favour of the Assessee — manual filing of the revocation application permitted, to be decided on merits within three weeks.

Case Details

Court: High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad
Case No.: Writ Petition No: 40159 of 2025
Coram: Hon'ble Sri Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, Chief Justice, and Hon'ble Sri Justice G.M. Mohiuddin
Date of Order: 31.12.2025

Link to Download the Order

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