GST registration cancellation for return default can be set aside in writ jurisdiction where compliance lapses leave no effective remedy.

Cancellation of GST registration for non-filing of returns may be interfered with in writ jurisdiction where the assessee is left without an effective remedy because the appellate limitation has expired. Applying a liberal approach, the court balanced regulatory enforcement with the need to keep legitimate trade operating subject to compliance, and treated revival of registration as appropriate in the circumstances. The cancellation order was set aside, and the assessee was directed to file the pending returns within the stipulated time as a condition for consequential relief.

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Issues: Whether the cancellation of GST registration for non-filing of returns deserved interference in writ jurisdiction and whether the impugned cancellation order should be set aside with consequential relief.

Analysis: The petitioner's registration had been cancelled for non-filing of returns. The order records that the petitioner faced difficulty in filing returns and that the appellate remedy had become unavailable because limitation had expired. Relying on the view that cancellation of registration should not practically render the assessee remediless and that the GST regime should facilitate continuation of legitimate trade subject to compliance, the Court applied the liberal approach adopted in earlier decisions concerning revival of GST registration and the need to balance regulatory enforcement with the right to carry on business.

Conclusion: The cancellation order was interfered with and set aside, and the petitioner was directed to file the pending returns within the stipulated time.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded, with consequential relief granted in the form of setting aside the cancellation of GST registration and requiring compliance with return filing.

Ratio Decidendi: In appropriate cases involving cancellation of GST registration for compliance defaults, writ jurisdiction may be exercised to prevent denial of the right to carry on trade where strict procedural limitation would otherwise leave the assessee without an effective remedy.

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