Orissa HC Allows GST Revocation Subject to Taxpayers Paying All Its Outstanding Dues

The Orissa High Court ordered the tax authorities to freshly consider the application for GST registration revocation, provided the taxpayer pays all its pending dues and follows the required procedures.

The tax authorities had sent an order dated April 05, 2023, to the petitioner, M/s Dhanwar & Associates, cancelling the petitioner’s GST registration. The petitioner had delayed in seeking GST registration revocation. During the personal hearing before the Orissa High Court, the petitioner claimed that it is ready to pay all pending dues, including tax, interest, late fees, penalties, and any other required amount, so that its GST registration can be restored.

The petitioner, in order to support its case, also cited an earlier judgement, dated November 16, 2022, in the case titled M/s Mohanty Enterprises v. The Commissioner, CT & GST, Odisha, Cuttack and others [W.P.(C) No. 30374 of 2022], based on a similar issue. In this case, the court agrees to condone the delay in filing an application seeking GST registration revocation if the petitioner pays all its pending dues, such as taxes, interest, late fees, penalties, etc., and complies with all related formalities.

The petitioner claimed, “It is ready and willing to pay the tax, interest, late fee, penalty and any other sum required to be paid for the return form of his client to be accepted by the Department. He relies on an order dated 16th November, 2022 of the coordinate Bench in W.P.(C) No. 30374 of 2022 (M/s Mohanty Enterprises v. The Commissioner, CT & GST, Odisha, Cuttack and others). He submits, his client’s claim to relief including prayer for condonation of delay is covered by said order.”

After analysing the complete case, the court agreed with the petitioner’s claim that the issue in the present case perfectly aligns with that of the case cited. Hence, the court decided to apply the same ruling in the present case. Therefore, it condoned the delay and directed the tax authorities to consider the petitioner’s application for GST registration revocation if it pays all the dues and follows the necessary procedures. With these directions, the writ petition was disposed of.