VAT registration cancellation must rest on statutory grounds; absence of goods at the registered address is not enough.

Cancellation of VAT registration under the Uttarakhand Value Added Tax Act, 2005 is permissible only on the statutory grounds expressly provided in section 18. Where the notice did not invoke any such ground and the order rested only on an allegation that goods were not stored at the registered address, with no reliable basis shown, cancellation could not stand. The Act does not require goods to be stored at the place of registration, and its definition of place of business allows business activity and storage at different locations. On these facts, the cancellation order was unsustainable and was rightly set aside.

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Issues: Whether cancellation of VAT registration was valid when no ground contemplated by section 18 was stated or established, and whether non-storage of goods at the registered address could justify cancellation.

Analysis: Cancellation of registration under the Uttarakhand Value Added Tax Act, 2005 is permissible only on the grounds specified in section 18. The notice did not invoke any such ground, and the order rested only on the allegation that goods were not stored at the registered address and that the premises were said to be closed on information from unidentified persons. The Act does not require goods to be stored at the place of registration, and its definition of place of business recognises that a dealer may carry on business and store goods at different places. On the facts found, no sustainable basis for cancellation was made out.

Conclusion: The cancellation order was unsustainable and was rightly set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Registration under the VAT law can be cancelled only on the statutory grounds expressly provided, and mere absence of goods at the registered address is not by itself a valid ground for cancellation.

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