High Court Permits New Revocation Plea After GST Registration Cancellation

Background of the Dispute

In R B Enterprises Vs Commissioner (Uttarakhand High Court), the assessee approached the Uttarakhand High Court challenging multiple orders arising from the cancellation of its GST registration. The following orders were under challenge:

  • The original order cancelling GST registration dated 30.06.2025
  • The order rejecting the assessee’s application for revocation of cancellation dated 20.08.2025
  • The Order-in-Appeal dated 16.02.2026 passed by the appellate authority

At the stage of hearing, the assessee did not press for setting aside all these orders on merits. Instead, the relief sought was narrowed down to a practical remedy — a direction to the authorities to reconsider revocation of the cancelled GST registration, subject to the assessee complying with statutory obligations such as filing of pending returns and payment of tax, interest and penalty.

Core Issue Before the Court

The central question was whether the assessee should be allowed another opportunity to seek revocation of cancellation of GST registration, even though:

  1. The revocation request had already been rejected by the Proper Officer; and
  2. The statutory appeal against the cancellation order had been dismissed by the appellate authority on limitation.

The assessee expressed clear willingness to:

  • File all defaulted GST returns; and
  • Pay the entire outstanding tax along with applicable interest and penalty.

The Court was called upon to determine whether, in these circumstances, a fresh revocation request could be entertained.

Grounds for Cancellation vs Grounds for Revocation Rejection

A key aspect that weighed with the Court was the inconsistency between:

  • The ground cited in the cancellation order dated 30.06.2025, and
  • The ground relied upon for rejecting the revocation application dated 20.08.2025.

Reason for Cancellation

The registration of the assessee had been cancelled on a standard compliance ground —

  • Non-filing of GST returns for a continuous period of six months.

This is a recognized basis for cancellation under the GST framework, where non-compliance with return filing obligations over a prolonged period can lead to cancellation of registration.

Reason for Revocation Rejection

However, the application seeking revocation of this cancellation was rejected not on the basis of continued non-filing or non-compliance, but on an entirely different premise, namely:

  • There was a difference between GSTR-3B and GSTR-2A.

This discrepancy is an issue relating to mismatch between outward liability declared in returns and inward supplies reflected through auto-populated data, which is conceptually distinct from the original ground of non-filing of returns.

The Court specifically noted this divergence, highlighting that the rejection of revocation was premised on a new and different ground, unrelated to the basis of the original cancellation order.

Revenue’s Stand Before the Court

On behalf of the Revenue, Mr. Shobhit Saharia, learned counsel, opposed the plea for fresh consideration of revocation. The primary contention was: