The discretion of the Appellate Authority to condone the delay in filing the appeal and the need for circumspection in exercising the power to cancel GST Registration.

JUDGMENT

Vibhu Bakhru, J. The petitioner has filed the present petition, inter alia, praying as under:

"a) this Hon'ble Court be pleased to set aside the SCN dated 06.10.2022, the OIO dated 28.10.2022 cancelling the registration of the Petitioner and the impugned order-in-appeal dated 30.05.2023;

b) this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to direct the CGST Authorities to refund an amount of Rs.20,00,000/- (Rs.Twenty lacs), deposited during the course of visit and investigation;

c) this Hon'ble Court be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or a writ/direction in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, direction or order thereby directing the Respondents to restore the registration of the Petitioner immediately;

d) for ad-interim reliefs in terms of prayer (b) above;

e) for costs of this Petition and orders thereon;"

2. The petitioner is, essentially, aggrieved by the cancellation of her GST Registration. The petitioner has also sought a refund of Rs.20,00,000 (Rupees twenty lacs only), which she claims was not deposited voluntarily against any demand, but under the pressure as exerted by the respondent authorities. However, the learned counsel for the petitioner states that the petitioner does not wish to seek any relief in regard to the deposit, aggregating to Rs.20,00,000/- as sought in the petition at this stage. The petitioner, however, seeks to reserve her rights for availing appropriate remedies in this regard at a later stage, if necessary.

3. In view of the above, the present petition is confined to the petitioner's challenge to the Order-in-Original dated 28.10.2022, whereby the petitioner's GST registration was cancelled, and the Order-in-Appeal dated 30.05.2023, whereby the petitioner's appeal against the Order-in-Original dated 28.10.2022 was rejected.

4. The petitioner states that she is engaged in the business of import and distribution of various types of chemicals, minerals and lubricant preparations falling under Chapters 27 and 34 of the schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. She claims that she has been carrying on the said business in the name and style of a sole proprietorship concern `Vivaan International' since, prior to the rollout of the GST Regime on 01.07.2017 and was registered as a dealer under the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, 2004.

5. The petitioner states that on 07.09.2022, the Anti Evasion Staff of Central Tax CGST, Delhi North Commissionerate visited and searched her premises. She claims that they also took possession of a few documents from her premises without drawing any panchnama. She claims that she was not present during the course of the search but her father-in-law (Sh. Ashok Kumar Jain), who was present at the premises at the material time, was compelled to tender a statement. He was also pressurized to deposit a sum of Rs.20,00,000/-. Initially, Sh. Ashok Kumar Jain resisted the said demand but the concerned officers continued to pressurise him. He succumbed to their pressure and in order to avoid any confrontation, deposited a sum of Rs.10,00,000/- (Rupees ten lacs only) through DRC-03 dated 07.09.2022, after consulting with the petitioner.

6. Thereafter, the petitioner was issued a Show Cause Notice dated 06.10.2022 proposing to cancel the petitioner's GST Registration for the following reason:

"I The tax payer has not present in office on 19.09.22 against the summons given to him u/s 70 of the CGST Act, issued on 13.09.2022."

7. The petitioner was also called upon to furnish a reply within a period of seven working days and appear before the proper officer on 13.10.2022 at 02:46 p.m. The show cause notice also recorded that the petitioner's GST registration was suspended.

8. The petitioner responded to the said Show Cause Notice dated 06.10.2022 on 10.10.2022. In her response, the petitioner asserted that her accountant had visited the office as required and had sought further time to prepare the documents. The petitioner also requested that the suspension of her GST Regis