Delhi High Court Slams GST Authorities For 'Mechanically' Cancelling Registration Of BoAt's Parent Company

The Delhi High Court has slammed the GST authorities for cancelling the registration of Imagine Marketing Ltd., the parent company of smart wearables brand boAt, without considering the company's replies.

A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain further criticised the GST Appellate Authority, which upheld the cancellation in a 'cavalier' manner. The judges remarked,

“The present petition reveals a sad situation where a reputed company is being made to deal with an unjustified cancellation of its GST registration…There is no reason given in the impugned order as to why the documents filed by the Petitioner were not considered, except stating that your reply is not considerable…An Adjudicating Authority has to show basic fairness, especially in the case of companies which are regular tax payers and who have filed the replies in time along with the requisite documents.”

The company's GST registration was cancelled on 26th November, 2024 stating it was found to be non-existent during physical searches.

The company submitted that it continues to operate from the same premises since 2019 and while earlier it leased various floors, it currently operated only from the second floor due to downsizing.

It also supplied rent agreements, returns for the last three months to the Department. Yet, its registration was cancelled. An application seeking revocation of the cancellation was also dismissed. The company then preferred an appeal before the Appellate Authority, which was rejected, bringing the matter to the High Court.

The High Court observed that the company's GST returns etc. were all available on the GST Portal and thus, the Department was not justified in repeatedly calling for the same from the tax payer.

It further said that the Appellate Authority's order was “completely erroneous”.

“The Adjudicating Authority's approach in this matter has been cavalier, to say the least. The Adjudicating Authority has failed to consider any of the replies and the documents which were filed with the same and has passed mechanical, templated and computer generated orders without any application of mind.”

The Court also slammed the Superintendent who had cancelled the registration and ordered that ₹25,000 costs be recovered from him.

Further, the Show Cause Notice issued to the company has to be adjudicated afresh, after considering the replies filed by it.

Appearance: Mr. Ashwini Chandrasekaran, Ms. Priyanka Rathi and Ms. Priyanshi Chakraborty, Advs for Petitioner; Ms. Anushree Narain, SSC for Respondents

Case title: Imagine Marketing Ltd. v. Joint Commissioner Cgst Appeals Ii Delhi & Anr.

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1605

Case no.: W.P.(C) 17699/2025

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