The Delhi High Court has restored the GST registration of Shiv Tempo Service, a small tempo operator, realising that the revocation had a detrimental effect on his livelihood. The court stated that the lapse was the operator’s first default and acknowledged his willingness to submit all outstanding GST returns as well as to resolve the required dues and tax liabilities under the law.
Shiv Tempo Service operated a small goods-carriage service via light commercial vehicles. Its GST registration was cancelled retrospectively by an order dated 17 November 2023 because the applicant did not file GST returns continuously for 6 months.
The applicant contested the cancellation before the appellate authority. The appeal was quashed on 1 July 2025 only because it had been submitted after the stipulated time.
The counsel of the applicant before the High Court claimed that the applicant was a small businessman who operated the tempo service to support himself and his family. They mentioned that the applicant wanted to pay the applicable fine and penalty, but the cancellation must not be permitted to take away his means of livelihood.
The counsel of the department said that the applicant was needed to approach the GSTAT. She mentioned that the appellate authority did not have any authority to condone a delay exceeding 1 year.
After that, the department notified the court that it does not have any incriminating data concerning the applicant’s antecedents. It stated that the registration had been cancelled u/s 29(2)(c) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 because of the failure to file returns.
The Division Bench, including Justice Anil Kshetrapal and Justice Shail Jain, said that the applicant did not comply with the regulatory norms of filing returns.
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Meanwhile, the court discovered that he must not be left without any remedy when there was no other adverse material against him, and he was prepared to finish all the pending compliance.
The Court acknowledged that this was the first default of the applicant and that he was running a small tempo service for his livelihood.
The cancellation order and the appellate order were quashed. The GST registration was restored as per the applicant filing all pending returns within 30 days and paying the outstanding dues and any penalty levied as per the law.
The Court mentioned that the order was grounded on the peculiar facts and shall not be considered as a precedent. It asked the applicant to deposit Rs 10,000 with the Delhi High Court Staff Welfare Fund within 2 weeks.
| Case Title | M/s Shiv Tempo Service Vs Pr. Commissioner of Goods and Service Tax |
| Case No. | W.p.(c) 14288/2025 |
| For Petitioner | Mr Pranay Jain, Mr Sarthak Verma and Mr Karan Singh |
| For Respondent | Ms Anushree Narain, Mr Apurv Yadav and Mr Naman Chola |
| Delhi High Court | Read Order |
