InWP(C) No.564 of 2023 -TRI HC- Tripura High Court provides relief to M.B. Trading with suspended GST registration, directs GST department to issue fresh show cause notice & decide within 2 weeks
Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh & Justice Arindam Lodh [12-09-2023]

Read Order:M.B. Trading v. The State of Tripura and others

Chahat Varma

New Delhi, September 28, 2023: The Tripura High Court has directed the GST department to issue a fresh show-cause notice to M.B. Trading (petitioner), whose GST registration was suspended due to alleged non-compliance with the Goods and Services Tax Act (GST Act) and related Rules.

In the present case, the petitioner was served with a show cause notice on 08.02.2023 in Form GST REG-17 under Rule 22(1)/sub-rule (2A) of rule 21A to appear and submit his reply. The petitioner submitted their response along with relevant documents. However, till date, the adjudicating authority had not made a decision, and the GST registration remained suspended. The petitioner had also sought the withdrawal of the suspension from the Commissioner of SGST, but according to the petitioner, that request was also pending.

The division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Arindam Lodhobserved that upon a bare perusal of the showcause notice, it became evident that no specific contraventions of the GST Act or the Rules made thereunder had been alleged. The show-cause notice was deemed vague, making it challenging for any recipient to provide a categorical response in the absence of clear contraventions being alleged. The bench also noted that the petitioner's business had been adversely affected due to the suspension of the GST registration since February 2023.

In such circumstances, the bench instructed the Department to issue a fresh show-cause notice, specifying the specific contraventions of the GST Act and the Rules made thereunder, to the petitioner.

Furthermore, the bench ordered that a decision on the fresh show-cause notice and the petitioner's response should be made within two weeks. The decision should then be communicated to the petitioner through the prescribed mode. The bench also warned that if these timelines were not adhered to, the Court would take a serious view of the matter if it were brought to its attention.