TMI Blog2023 (1) TMI 979X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s were being passed, the reply was that on account of the technical glitches in the portal, the department is finding difficult to upload the show cause notice as well as the final order of cancellation of registration contenting all necessary details and information. The Court did not find this to be a valid ground nor a sustainable explanation for the purpose of issuing show cause notices and passing of the order finally cancelling the registration of the persons concerned therefore, it directed the department that till this technical glitches are corrected, the show cause notices to be issued shall be manual/physical containing all material particulars and information to enable the dealer to effectively respond to the same. The very officer instead of realizing that this action on the part of the authority is contrary to the directions issued by this Court way back in the month of February, 2022, reiterates that because of some technical glitches of GST portal, the reply of the notice has not been received from the GST portal. Therefore, he declares that he would initiate the fresh cancellation proceedings manually and after it is found satisfactory on receiving the fresh rep ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t case. 2. The petitioner is engaged in the business of Trading of Gold, Silver and Building Materials etc. and has been a registered dealer holding GSTIN Registration No. 24ANLPS0681F1ZW under the provisions of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the Act of 2017) with effect from 04.08.2017. 2.1. On 01.10.2021, a notice was issued by the Assistant Commissioner asking the petitioner to show cause as to why the registration certificate issued in the name of the his firm be not cancelled. He gave a reply on 07.10.2021. The petitioner received a communication through e-mail on 14.10.2021 intimating that the order of dropping suo moto proceedings is cancelled. 2.2. Once again on 11.04.2022 a notice was issued by the Assistant Commissioner asking the petitioner to show cause as to why the registration certificate issued in the name of his firm be not cancelled. He replied to the same on 15.04.2022 and thereafter, a non-speaking order dated 10.05.2022 has been received by him from the respondent no.2 intimating him that the GST Registration Number is cancelled. 2.3. The petitioner also made a representation on 17.05.2022 against the order of ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ormat of notices. 6.1. He also does not dispute that there are specific directions issued in case of Aggarwal Dyeing (supra) which had been also followed thereafter in yet another matter being Special Civil Application No. 7155 of 2022 on 11.04.2022. He also has brought to the notice of this Court another decision of this Court rendered in Special Civil Application No. 3596 of 2022 dated 24.02.2022 where while restoring the GST Registration Number of the writ applicant, the Court had remitted the matter back to the respondent authority for de novo proceedings. 6.2. He has shown his inability to make changes in the GST portal as that, according to him, is not in the hands of the GST authorities. It is for the Central Government to make the changes. For want of instructions as to whether there are any such initiatives made or not, there is nothing on the record which can indicate that aspect. However, he ensures to communicate it today itself to the highest authority and he hopes that thereafter there shall be no lapse in following the decision of this Court which has been passed in February, 2022. 6.3. He has urged the Court that the authority concerned has issued the sh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aler to effectively respond to the same. The physical copy was directed to be issued and dispatched by RPAD and likewise the final order would need to be containing all necessary reasons and its communication would need to be through the RPAD with a further addition that any lapse in this regard would be viewed strictly. This was essentially because the Court was flooded with these matters. 7.2. With these details the following directions have been given:- 18. Our final conclusion are as under: 18.1. Until the Department is able to develop and upload an appropriate software in the portal which would enable the Department to feed all the necessary information and material particulars in the show cause notice as well as in the final order of cancellation of registration that may be passed, the authority concerned shall issue an appropriate show cause notice containing all the necessary details and information in a physical form and forward the same to the dealer by RPAD. In the same manner, when it comes to passing the final order, the same shall also be passed in a physical form containing all the necessary information and particulars and shall be forwarded to the deale ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n of the writ applicant to be quashed and set aside and the order dated 05.04.2022 after setting it aside was further directed to restore the GSTN Registration of the writ applicant. 9. In the instant case, what is apparent is that for the first time, when the show cause notice was issued by Ghatak-8, Range-2 Division, Gujarat on 01.10.2021, the reply had been filed on 07.10.2021 and being satisfied with the same, a show cause notice was dropped. Thereafter once again, the show cause notice was issued on 11.04.2022 which had been replied to on 15.04.2022. What has been specifically pointed out to the authority concerned is there has been no reference to the provisions nor the rules nor any other details have been specified. Other requisite details since were missing, the attention was drawn of the concerned authority, however, the order of cancellation for registration number has been passed on 10.05.2022 by the Assistant Commissioner, Ghatak-8 which says thus:- Order for Cancellation of Registration This has reference to your reply dated 22/04/2022 in response to the notice to show cause dated 11/04/2022 Whereas no reply to notice to show cause has been submitted; ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... heed to. 11. We noticed that these notices issued to the present petitioner in the month of April, 2022 and thereafter also are subsequent to the decision of Aggarwal Dyeing (supra) and all those orders which had followed the Aggarwal Dyeing (supra) decision, there appears to be no initiative for making any changes in the portal. If at all any initiatives have been taken, there is nothing coming on the record for the Court to know as to whether those technical glitches are to be improvised or not. The very officer instead of realizing that this action on the part of the authority is contrary to the directions issued by this Court way back in the month of February, 2022, reiterates that because of some technical glitches of GST portal, the reply of the notice has not been received from the GST portal. Therefore, he declares that he would initiate the fresh cancellation proceedings manually and after it is found satisfactory on receiving the fresh reply, he would restore the GST number of the dealer. The least that was expected of the officer, on realizing that the initial notice on his part was contrary to the directions issued by this Court, was to express apology for repeating ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the statute. He further has added that he shall be intimating to the highest authority, the decision of Aggarwal Dyeing (supra) and subsequent decisions of this Court so that this repetition may not continue. He further has stated that in three weeks time, the procedure shall be completed. 14.2. Noticing the fact that the Courts have been giving directions after directions all these months and same had not been followed, let the guiding instructions to all the officers be issued in a week s time from the receipt of copy of this order. Without fail, a copy of which shall be also sent to the Registrar (Judicial) by way of proof of compliance. 15. We choose not to initiate any action against the concerned officer since he has already uploaded the notice and the same along with accompanied documents have not been reflected on portal. However, after filing of the petition and having come to know of the limitation of the portal, the department could have immediately rectified its action and withdrawn the notice what it has chosen to do in the month of November. We deem it appropriate not to, therefore, saddle the officer concerned with the cost, however, this repetitive action sur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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