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GST Registration Cancellation: The Delhi High court while setting aside the two orders issued under section 73 of the GST Act and granting time to file reply the cases, involving a total demand of about Rs. 2 crore, held that at the material time of issuance of the Show Cause Notice (SCN), the tab ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ was not placed in a position which would invite the taxpayer’s attention to the tab.
The bench of Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Sachin Datta, during the course of hearing, saw the live dashboard of the GST common portal on their devices.
Background
The petitioner/assessee has challenged the order passed by the adjudicating authority under Section 73 of the Delhi Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the tax period from July 2017 to March 2018.
The order was passed pursuant to the Show Cause Notice dated 26.09.2023 . The petitioner did not respond to the SCN. Consequently, the order was passed confirming the demand as proposed in terms of the SCN.
The petitioner sought one more opportunity to respond to the SCN and the matter be remanded to the adjudicating authority to decide afresh.
The petitioner claimed that she did not receive the SCN and therefore, could not respond to the same. The petitioner also states that her access to the portal was limited as the GST registration was cancelled at the material time.
The petitioner contended that the SCN was not readily accessible on the GST portal because it was placed under a tab of ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ and the petitioner has no occasion to access it.
Argument
The petitioner contended that the show cause notices were placed under the tab ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ and were not readily accessible. The issue has since been remedied and the GST portal has been redesigned to place the notices as well as additional notices and orders under the menu item ‘View Notices and Orders’. Thus, now a user can view both tabs ‘Notices and Orders’ and ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ on the same page. At the material time of issuance of the SCN, the tab ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ was not placed in a position which would invite the taxpayer’s attention to the tab.
Conclusion
The court while allowing the petition directed the petitioner to file a reply to the SCN along with all relevant documents relied upon by her within a period of two weeks.
FAQs
Is GST registration cancellation allowed?
The Delhi High court in the case of Sadhna Kohli V/S Sales Tax Officer while setting aside the two orders issued under section 73 of the GST Act and granting time to file reply the cases, involving a total demand of about Rs. 2 crore, held that at the material time of issuance of the Show Cause Notice (SCN), the tab ‘Additional Notices and Orders’ was not placed in a position which would invite the taxpayer’s attention to the tab.
Case Details
Case title: Sadhna Kohli V/S Sales Tax Officer
Citation: W.P.(C) 10373/2024 & CM APPLN No.52754/2024
Counsel for the Petitioner: Preetam Singh
Counsel for the Respondent: Udit Malik
Decision Date: 11.09.2024