GST registration cancellation cannot rest on non-filing after earlier cancellation where proper service of the order was lacking.

Where GST registration had already been cancelled provisionally, a later cancellation based on alleged non-filing of returns after that cancellation could not be sustained. The court noted that the earlier cancellation order had not been served at the address and email furnished for future correspondence, which deprived the taxpayer of effective notice and the chance to challenge it in time. The later cancellation order was therefore set aside, and the registration was directed to stand cancelled from the date of the cancellation application.

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Issues: Whether the order cancelling the GST registration could be sustained and whether the cancellation ought to operate from the date of the application for cancellation.

Analysis: The registration had already been cancelled provisionally, and the subsequent show cause notice for non-filing of returns could not stand on the footing that the petitioner remained liable to file returns after such cancellation. The record also showed that the earlier cancellation order was not served at the address and email furnished for future correspondence, depriving the petitioner of effective notice and the opportunity to challenge it in time. In these circumstances, the later cancellation order lacked a sustainable basis.

Conclusion: The cancellation order was set aside, and the GST registration was directed to stand cancelled with effect from the date of the cancellation application.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an earlier cancellation of registration has already taken effect and the affected person was not duly served with the relevant order, a later cancellation based on non-filing of returns after such cancellation cannot be sustained.

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