Madras High Court Decision: GST Registration to be Reinstated for Petitioner Post Tax Payment

• The petitioner filed a writ petition to challenge the cancellation of their GST registration (Reference No. ZA331119091311U) on 21.11.2019 and requested the court to instruct the authorities to reinstate their GSTIN.33BTSPM3665D1ZH.

• The court heard arguments from both the petitioner's counsel and the respondents' counsel and decided to address the case immediately.

• The petitioner was unaware of their GST registration cancellation and learned about it from other taxpayers. They later appealed the cancellation, but it was rejected due to being filed beyond the time limit.

• The court referred to a previous case (Tvl.Suguna Cutpiece) with similar circumstances, where it directed the petitioners to file overdue returns, pay outstanding taxes with interest, fines, and fees, and not use any unutilized Input Tax Credit for payment. The court also required scrutiny and approval of Input Tax Credits and restricted certain actions to prevent misuse.

• The respondents argued that they must follow the prescribed limitations and that rejecting the appeal beyond the time limit was legally valid.

• The court noted that it had consistently followed the directions in the Suguna Cutpiece case, and the revenue department had not challenged these orders, making them final.

• In light of this, the court extended the same benefits to the petitioner as in the Suguna Cutpiece case and allowed the writ petition without costs. Chelliah Meenambigai vs. Commercial of CGST and Central Excise