Delhi High Court Quashes GST Cancellation Notice Lacking Proper Officer Details Office Address

The Delhi High Court on 5 August held that a show cause notice issued for cancellation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) registration must clearly mention the office address and the details of the proper officer before whom the taxpayer is required to appear.

A Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Shail Jain set aside the cancellation of Prashant Shanker's GST registration and the rejection of his application seeking revocation, holding that the orders were passed without granting him an effective opportunity of hearing. They held:

“When a notice requires an assessee to appear before the proper officer, the authority is required to specify the address of the office as well as the officer before whom such appearance is required.”

The petitioner had challenged the show cause notice issued for cancellation of his GST registration, which required him to appear on 12 November 2025 at 11 am. He contended that the notice did not disclose the address of the office or identify the proper officer before whom he was required to appear.

The Bench noted that the GST registration was cancelled on the ground that the petitioner had failed to furnish returns for a continuous period of six months. However, the petitioner's subsequent application seeking revocation of the cancellation was rejected on a different ground that he had availed excess Input Tax Credit.

It held that the petitioner was not granted an effective opportunity of hearing as the show cause notice did not provide the necessary details regarding the personal hearing and the revocation application was rejected on a ground different from the one mentioned in the cancellation proceedings.

Accordingly, the High Court set aside the cancellation order and the order rejecting the revocation application and directed the proper officer to reconsider the matter after granting the petitioner an effective opportunity of hearing.

For Petitioner: Mr. Nitin Gulati & Ms. Reena Gandhi, Advs.

For Respondent: Mr. Anish Roy, SSC CBIC with Mr. Subhadeep Roy, Adv.