GST registration for successful resolution applicant cannot be denied on admitted facts without reasoned merits-based consideration.

GST registration could not be refused to a successful resolution applicant after acceptance of the resolution plan on admitted facts without reasoned consideration on merits. The court treated registration under the Uttar Pradesh GST Act as an enabling step for carrying on lawful business and found the rejection to lack effective legal justification. It also noted the relevance of the CBIC circular on registration of the corporate debtor through the IRP/RP regime. The rejection was held unsustainable, and the matter was directed to be reconsidered on merits for grant of registration.

---

---

Issues: Whether refusal of GST registration to a successful resolution applicant, after acceptance of the resolution plan, was sustainable.

Analysis: The petitioner's status as a successful resolution applicant and the acceptance of the resolution plan were not in dispute. Registration under the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 was treated as an enabling step for carrying on lawful business, and the authority's rejection was found to have no effective legal justification on the admitted facts. The Court also noted the relevance of the CBIC circular concerning registration of the corporate debtor through the IRP/RP regime, and held that no useful purpose would be served by keeping the matter pending or seeking a counter affidavit.

Conclusion: The rejection of registration was not sustainable, and the petition was allowed with a direction to reconsider the application on merits for grant of registration.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a resolution plan has been accepted and the relevant facts are undisputed, GST registration cannot be denied in a manner that effectively prevents the successful resolution applicant from carrying on lawful business without a reasoned consideration on merits.

---