The Calcutta High Court has directed the restoration of a farmer producer company’s GST registration, noting that rejecting the option to regularise compliance would cause irreparable harm to its operations and the livelihoods of the farmers associated with the commodity.
The bench of Justice Smita Das De stated that balanced statutory compliance with equitable considerations should be achieved by allowing restoration, subject to payment of applicable taxes, interest, and penalties.
The writ petition was submitted contesting the suspension and cancellation of its GST registration due to the continuous non-submission of monthly GST returns. The applicant asked for the restoration of its registration to continue its business operations.
The company notified the Court that it was incorporated to support marginal farmers by easing the marketing of agricultural produce, particularly paddy. It explained that its compliance was impacted because of the peak agricultural season and the unavailability of its appointed GST practitioner.
The applicant claimed that its business dealt with exempt agricultural goods, and thus, the failure to submit returns did not produce the outcome of any loss of revenue to the State exchequer. The company’s lapse was procedural and technical and not substantive.
It contested the cancellation order as a non-speaking and perverse order, citing that the authorities did not acknowledge its detailed representation dated 20 January 2026 before passing the impugned decision. The company is willing to pay all taxes, interest, and penalties that may be identified and assure the Court that it shall submit returns regularly in the future.
The state countered the writ petition and mentioned that the prolonged default in submitting the monthly GST returns could not be condoned. It placed reliance on Section 29(2)(c) of the CGST Act, 2017, which mandates GST registration cancellation where a registered person did not file the returns for a continuous period of 6 months. The State said that the applicant had breached the regulatory provision and the cancellation was legally justified.
Justice Smita Das De considered the submissions of both parties and mentioned that the applicant had established a prima facie case warranting judicial interference. The Court said that a refusal of the chance to submit the returns post-payment of statutory dues shall lead to irreparable loss to the applicant’s business and livelihood.
The court, admitting the need to balance statutory compliance with equitable relief, asked the concerned GST authorities to evaluate the taxes, interest, and penalties payable by the applicant. The authorities on the payment and satisfaction of the statutory dues were asked to restore the GST registration with effect from the original date of registration and allow the applicant to submit the due and future returns regularly.
The HC asked that the GST portal remain active for the confined objectives to allow the applicant to make the payment of taxes and penalties essential for the restoration of registration. Therefore, the writ petition was disposed of.
| Case Title | Kanksa Farmer Producer Company Ltd Vs Senior Joint Commissioner of Revenue & Appellate Authority |
| Case No. | WPA 6893 of 2026 |
| For Petitioner | Mr Rites Goel, Mr Santanu Chakraborty. |
| For Respondent | Mrs Manju Agarwal, Mr Bijitesh Mukherjee, Mr Ram Chandra Agarwal. |
| Calcutta High Court | Read Order |
