The petition against an amendment to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Rules, which allows for the suspension of GST registration without giving the affected party a hearing, has been addressed by the Bombay High Court, which has sent notices to the Union and Maharashtra governments asking for their responses.
On August 29, a division bench of Justices K R Shriram and A S Doctor gave notice to the Attorney General of India and the Advocate General of Maharashtra in light of the plea’s contention that a legal provision is invalid. On Monday, the order became available.
The court was considering SAT Industries Limited’s case, which contested a show-cause notice that had been sent to the company in August 2022 with a view to revoking its GST registration. The notification simply states, “Please note that your registration remains suspended with effect from 08/08/2022,” in line with the firm’s argument.
The addition of this alteration to the rules runs against the idea of natural justice because the implications of such a suspension were so severe. Nevertheless, this provision was eliminated in December 2020. The petition contested the amendment’s constitutionality since it did not include the phrase “after providing the aforementioned individual with a fair chance of”
Furthermore, it stated that violating Article 19(1)(g) of the Indian Constitution by suspending the GST registration without first speaking to the party in question.