Gujarat High Court Quashes Non-Speaking Cryptic Order Of GST Registration Cancellation

The Gujarat High Court has clarified that an order for the cancellation of registration passed without providing any reasons is a non-speaking order and therefore is liable to be set aside. The above ruling delivered by the division bench of Justices Vipul M Pancholi and Devan M Desai, came in response to a petition filed by Om Trading, a registered business under the Goods and Services Tax Act, challenging the cancellation of their registration certificate by the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, Ghatak 92. Om Trading, engaged in the trading of base oil, had carried out regular business transactions that were duly reflected in their returns. However, the Assistant Commissioner uploaded a show-cause notice on the GST portal proposing to cancel their registration, alleging fraudulent means, wilful misstatement, or suppression of facts. Om Trading, unaware of the notice as they were not logging onto the GST portal, expressed their grievance that they had not received any documents supporting the show-cause notice. The respondent authority subsequently canceled the petitioner's registration, leading to the filing of the present petition. During the court proceedings, Assistant Government Pleader Pranav Trivedi, representing the respondent authorities, acknowledged that no speaking order had been passed at the time of cancellation of registration based on written communication. He clarified that if the order was quashed and fresh proceedings were allowed in accordance with the law, the respondent authority would have no objection. The court noted, "Even otherwise, in the present case, the respondent authority has not disputed the fact that while issuing Show-cause notice for cancellation of Registration, necessary documents were not supplied and the notice is cryptic. Therefore, it was not possible for the petitioners to give reply to the said Show-cause notice.” "It is not in dispute that while passing the impugned order for cancellation of registration, the respondent authority has not assigned any reason and thus, the order passed by the respondent authority is not a speaking order," the court added while allowing the petition. Based on these circumstances, the court declared both the show-cause notices as well as the cancellation order null and void, granting liberty to the respondent authorities to issue a fresh notice incorporating specific reasons and details. The court further directed the concerned respondent to reinstate the registration of Om Trading without delay. The petitioners were explicitly instructed to respond to the notice by filing objections or replies, accompanied by necessary documents if required. Case Title: Om Trading Vs State Of Gujarat R/Special Civil Application No. 8990 Of 2023Case Citation: 2023 Livelaw (Guj) 117 Appearance: Uchit N Sheth(7336) For The Petitioner(S) No. 1,2 Mr.Pranav Trivedi AGP Notice Served By DS For The Respondent(S) No. 1,2 Click Here To Read/Download Order

Gujarat High Court Quashes Non-Speaking Cryptic Order Of GST Registration Cancellation

Bhavya Singh

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