The Bombay High Court has set aside an order cancelling a taxpayer’s GST registration under Rule 21(b) of the CGST Rules, holding that the impugned order was not a reasoned order and had failed to consider the specific contention raised in the reply to the show cause notice — namely, that a previous show cause notice issued on the very same grounds had been dropped, and that issuing a fresh SCN on identical grounds without any new material was impermissible. The ruling, by Justice M.S. Karnik and Justice Sandesh D. Patil in Writ Petition No. 11338 of 2026 (Amitex Trading Private Limited, decided 08.09.2026), directed the petitioner to appear before the Assistant Commissioner and file a detailed reply, with a fresh order to be passed within four weeks after hearing.
The petitioner’s GST registration had been suspended since 08.09.2021. A show cause notice dated 22.06.2026 was issued under Rule 21(b), alleging that the petitioner had issued invoices without supply of goods or services. The petitioner filed a reply on 25.06.2026 pointing out that earlier SCNs had been issued on the same basis and had been dropped, and that it was impermissible to issue a fresh SCN for cancellation without any detailed information of further queries. The cancellation order dated 29.06.2026 made a bare reference to Rule 21(b) with a remark about “circular transactions” but did not engage with the petitioner’s specific defence at all.
The court found that the petitioner’s contentions in the reply — particularly the fact that earlier SCNs on the same grounds had been dropped — had not been dealt with by the Authority in any manner whatsoever. The impugned order was not a reasoned order. The cancellation was set aside and the matter was remanded for fresh consideration after hearing the petitioner.
- 2026-juristway.com-1239-HC(Bombay)-GST | High Court of Bombay | Writ Petition No. 11338 of 2026 | 08.09.2026