GST Refund Can't Be Granted To Trader Until Cancelled Registration Is Restored: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has made it clear that GST refund cannot be granted to a trader whose GST registration stands cancelled.In the case at hand, the Petitioner's registration was cancelled in February 2023 with retrospective effect from July 2018.In this backdrop a division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain observed,“When the GST registration itself has been cancelled in 2018, obviously, no refund can be granted till the said GST registration of the Petitioner is restored.”The petitioner exported various goods to foreign buyers in UAE, Uganda etc. It sought Rs 1,19,29,742/- refund at the strength of the exports made and shipping bills.Significant to note that as per the Customs Commissionerate, Petitioner was a non-existent entity. It reported that on the basis of physical verification and on perusal of documents submitted, the Petitioner did not appear to be bonafide.As such, a Show Cause Notice was issued to the Petitioner for cancellation of its GST registration in October, 2022. However, no reply was filed and no personal hearing was attended by the Petitioner. Thereafter, the registration was cancelled.Insofar as the refund application is concerned, a personal hearing was fixed in July 2025 but the Petitioner did not attend the personal hearing.“It is surprising that even the factum of cancellation of GST registration has not been mentioned in the present writ petition, despite the same having been cancelled in 2023 with retrospective effect from 2018,” the Court observed at the outset.Stating that there is clear concealment of material facts by the Petitioner, the Court dismissed its plea with Rs 25,000/- costs.Appearance: Mr. Akhil Krishan Maggu, Adv for Petitioner; Mr. K G Gopalakrishnan, Ms. Nisha Mohandas, Mr. Girish Kumar Kaul and Mr. Jayesh Khandelwal, Advs. for DGST; Mr. Harpreet Singh, SSC with Ms. M.R. Sanidhya Sharma, Mr. Jai Ahuja and Ms. Vanshika Kapoor, Advs. for RespondentCase title: Shree Radhe Vallabh Traders v. Commissioner Central Goods And Service Tax, Delhi East Commissionerate, New DelhiCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 934Case no.: W.P.(C) 6768/2023Click here to read order

GST Refund Can't Be Granted To Trader Until Cancelled Registration Is Restored: Delhi High Court

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