GST registration cancellation for non-filing fails where six-month default was not complete on the cancellation date.

GST registration cannot be cancelled for non-filing of returns unless the default has continued for the statutory six-month period on the date of the cancellation order. The court held that the relevant date for testing compliance was the date of cancellation, and since only four months' returns remained unpaid then, the statutory condition under Section 29(2)(c) was not met. The cancellation order was therefore unsustainable and was quashed.

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Issues: Whether cancellation of GST registration was sustainable when, on the date of the cancellation order, the default in filing returns had not continued for six months.

Analysis: The writ petition challenged cancellation of registration on the ground that the statutory condition under Section 29(2)(c) was not satisfied. The relevant date for examining default was the date of the cancellation order. On that date, only four months' returns were pending, so the condition of continuous non-filing for six months was not met.

Conclusion: The cancellation order was unsustainable and was quashed and set aside in favour of the petitioner.

Ratio Decidendi: Registration under the GST regime cannot be cancelled under the provision relating to non-filing of returns unless the default of filing returns has continued for the statutory period required by the provision on the date of the cancellation order.

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