Uttarakhand High Court Allows Revocation of GST Cancellation Where Returns and Dues Are Cleared

Background of the Dispute

The matter in Avadh Enterprises Vs Commissioner of The CGST came before the Uttarakhand High Court as a writ petition challenging the cancellation of GST registration. The cancellation had been ordered on the ground of non-filing of GST returns for the relevant statutory periods.

At the very outset, both sides informed the Court that the controversy raised in this writ petition was identical to what had already been adjudicated in earlier writ petitions decided on 24.02.2025 and 17.03.2025. They jointly requested that the same directions be applied to the present assessee as well.

The High Court, therefore, did not re-examine the issue afresh on the merits of cancellation, but focused on whether similar remedial relief—permission to seek revocation of cancellation upon compliance—should be extended to the present assessee on the same terms.

Reference to Earlier Connected Matters

Prior Writ Petitions Forming the Basis

The Court specifically referred to:

  • Writ Petition (M/B) No. 39 of 2025, decided on 24.02.2025; and
  • Writ Petition (M/B) No. 71 of 2025, decided on 17.03.2025, which had itself followed the order in Writ Petition (M/B) No. 39 of 2025.

In those matters, the assessee was a registered person under the GST Act, 2017 whose registration had been cancelled by the competent officer—namely, the Assistant Commissioner, Haridwar-Sector 3—through an order dated 12.03.2024. The cancellation in that earlier case, like in the present one, stemmed solely from the non-filing of GST returns.

Nature of the Show Cause Notice

In the earlier proceedings relied upon, the show cause notice dated 23.02.2024 clearly reflected that:

  • The only basis for proposing cancellation was the assessee’s failure to submit GST returns for the prescribed period.
  • There was no separate or additional allegation of fraud, misrepresentation, or misuse of registration.

This aspect was significant because the Court treated the matter as a case of non-compliance due to non-filing of returns rather than a situation involving more serious violations such as bogus invoices or wrongful availment of input tax credit.

Relief Granted in the Earlier Decision

Coordinate Bench Approach

In the earlier writ petition Writ Petition (M/S) No. 3283 of 2024, which became the guiding precedent, a learned Single Judge had already considered an almost identical issue. The Single Judge had:

  • Allowed the assessee to file an application for revocation of cancellation of GST registration; and
  • Directed the competent authority to deal with that revocation application strictly in accordance with law within a fixed timeline, after ensuring that all statutory compliances had been fulfilled by the assessee.

This decision was later followed by the coordinate Bench while deciding Writ Petition (M/B) No. 39 of 2025 on 24.02.2025, and it laid the groundwork for how such cancellation cases based purely on non-filing of returns were to be handled by the Department and the courts.

Conditions Imposed for Revocation

While disposing of Writ Petition (M/B) No. 39 of 2025, the Court had issued the following operative directions in paragraph 8 of its order: