Madras HC: Order for cancellation of GST Registration set aside on the ground that SCN has not been issued in the prescribed template

Madras HC: Order for cancellation of GST Registration set aside on the ground that SCN has not been issued in the prescribed template

Suresh Trading Corporation vs Asst. Commissioner (Circle) of SGST; W.P. No. 21109/2021; 01.10.2021; Madras High Court

Facts:

• Petitioner was registered under erstwhile ‘Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 (Act 1 of 1959)’ [hereinafter ‘TNGST Act’ for the sake of convenience, clarity and brevity] and ‘Central Sales Tax Act, 1959’.
• Thereafter, when Goods and Services Tax regime was introduced on 01.07.2017, the petitioner migrated to that regime in accordance with Section 139 of ‘Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and ‘Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017‘
• In this backdrop, the Petitioner by way of migration was issued a common Registration Certificate for TN-GST Act and C-GST Act and this common ‘Registration Certificate’ shall hereinafter be referred to as ‘GST Certificate’.
• The aforementioned GST Certificate was cancelled in and by an ‘order dated 30.10.2019 bearing reference No.ZA331019110945P’ , hereinafter ‘impugned order’ primarily on the ground that the writ petitioner has failed to file monthly returns for six months.
• To be noted, this cancellation is under Section 29 of TN-GST Act.

Observations and Findings:

• Rule 22(1) of TN-GST Rules, makes it clear that it applies to cancellation of GST registration under Section 29 of TN-GST Act.
• It was pointed out by the Petitioner that though the Show Cause Notice dated 11.12.2018, refers to form GST REG-17, it is not in this format/template as it does not mention the date, month, year and time for personal hearing. Learned Revenue counsel, on instructions, submits that the records of respondent do not reveal the issue of SCN in REG-17 template qua Rule 22(1) of TN-GST Rules. Therefore, this by itself is good enough to conclude the captioned writ petition.

Held:

• In view of the aforesaid the Ld. Court directed as follows:
  • The impugned order being order for cancellation of GST Registration dated 30.10.2019 bearing reference No.ZA331019110945P was set aside solely on the ground that SCN which preceded the same has not been issued in the prescribed template i.e., REG17 under Rule 22(1) of TN-GST Rules, as it does not mention the date and time of personal hearing;
  • Though obvious, as the impugned order for cancellation of registration was set aside solely on the aforementioned ground, it was made clear that no view on merits of the matter was expressed in this order;
  • The respondent was directed to issue SCN afresh (if deemed necessary), in prescribed template/format interalia setting out the date, time, and venue for personal hearing and carry the same to its logical end as expeditiously as possible.

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