Telangana High Court permits manual filing of revocation application despite GST portal time bar

Background of the dispute

The matter before the Telangana High Court in Tadikamalla Prabhudas Contractor Vs Deputy State Tax Officer (Telangana High Court) concerned cancellation of a Goods and Services Tax registration and the assessee’s inability to seek revocation through the GST portal due to expiry of the prescribed electronic time limit.

The assessee’s GST registration certificate bearing No.36AHHPT5164E2Z4 had been cancelled by the department through an order issued in Form GST REG-19 dated 20.06.2024. The cancellation was founded on the allegation that the assessee had failed to file GST returns for six consecutive months.

An appeal was preferred against this cancellation order, but the appellate authority rejected the appeal as being time-barred. Left without appellate relief and finding that the online facility for seeking revocation of cancellation was no longer available on the GST portal due to limitation, the assessee invoked the writ jurisdiction of the High Court.

Assessee’s contentions

Plea regarding tax dues and reason for default

Counsel appearing for the assessee submitted the following key points before the Court:

  • The assessee claimed that there were no outstanding Goods and Services Tax dues payable to the department.
  • It was explained that the non-filing of GST returns was not willful; rather, it occurred because the assessee’s accountant had proceeded on a bona fide belief that, in the absence of any business transactions during the relevant period, no returns were required to be filed.
  • According to the assessee, this misunderstanding led to continuous non-filing for six months, which eventually triggered cancellation, but there was no deliberate or mala fide intention to evade compliance.

Difficulty with GST portal and requested relief

The assessee further brought to the Court’s notice that:

  • An attempt was made to initiate revocation of cancellation through the standard electronic facility, but
  • The GST portal did not permit filing of the revocation application as the statutory time period for filing such request had already lapsed.
  • Due to this technical and procedural barrier, the assessee was left with no avenue on the portal to place its case before the competent authority.

In view of this situation, the assessee requested the High Court to direct the jurisdictional authority to:

  • Accept a physical (manual) application for revocation of cancellation of GST registration, and
  • Examine and decide such application on merits and in accordance with law, independent of the technical restrictions of the portal.