Writ remedy against GST registration cancellation declined where statutory appeal was time-barred and delay remained unexplained.

A writ challenge to cancellation of GST registration was not entertained where the petitioner approached the court after an unexplained delay of about two years and failed to pursue the statutory appeal under Section 107 of the Jharkhand GST Act within limitation. The HC held that, in these circumstances, it would not exercise its extraordinary writ jurisdiction to examine the cancellation order on merits. The operative principle is that writ relief against GST cancellation should ordinarily be refused when an available appellate remedy has not been exhausted in time and the delay in invoking writ jurisdiction remains unexplained.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition challenging cancellation of GST registration was entertainable in view of the unexplained delay and the available statutory appeal remedy.

Analysis: The challenge to the cancellation order was brought after a long and unexplained delay of about two years. The statutory scheme provided an appellate remedy under Section 107 of the Jharkhand Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and the period for availing that remedy had already expired. In these circumstances, the writ court declined to exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction to examine the cancellation order on merits.

Conclusion: The challenge to the cancellation of GST registration was not entertained and the issue was decided against the petitioner.

Ratio Decidendi: A writ petition against a GST cancellation order should ordinarily not be entertained when the statutory appellate remedy has not been pursued within limitation and the delay in invoking writ jurisdiction remains unexplained.

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