Telangana High Court Directs GST Authority to Accept Physical Revocation Application Amid Assessee's Financial Hardship
The procedural rigidities of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) portal often create significant hurdles for an assessee attempting to restore a cancelled registration. In a notable judicial intervention, the Telangana High Court in the case of KSR Infrastructure Projects Vs State of Telangana & Others provided crucial relief to an assessee whose registration was cancelled due to the non-filing of statutory returns.
While the Court refrained from ruling on whether financial distress inherently justifies non-compliance, it established a clear procedural pathway for the assessee to seek the revocation of the cancellation. Significantly, the High Court permitted the manual submission of the revocation application if technical glitches on the GST portal hindered the online process.
Factual Matrix of the Dispute
The dispute originated when the state tax authorities initiated action against the assessee, KSR Infrastructure Projects, for failing to file GST returns over the prescribed statutory periods. Consequently, the competent tax authority cancelled the assessee's GST registration (bearing No. 36AAMFK7408C1ZD).
The cancellation was formalized and communicated to the assessee via an order issued in FORM GST REG-19 dated 27.12.2023. Aggrieved by the termination of their GST registration, which effectively halts all legitimate business operations and the ability to issue tax invoices, the assessee approached the Telangana High Court by filing a Writ Petition to seek the revocation of the cancellation order.