Delhi HC: No GST Registration Without Biometric Aadhaar

Delhi High Court Bars GST Registration Without Biometric Aadhaar Authentication for the Time Being Over PAN Misuse

Published: 13 September 2026 · NyayVidhan

In an interim order, the Delhi High Court directed authorities across the country, for the time being, not to allow any GST registration without biometric-based Aadhaar authentication. The petitions allege fraudulent GST registrations made in innocent persons' names using their PAN and Aadhaar details. The Bench gave the authorities liberty to object on practical difficulties and listed the matter again (paras 1, 8-10). The petition remains pending.

Key holdings

For the time being, no GST registration may be allowed anywhere in the country without biometric-based Aadhaar authentication (para 8).

The authorities have liberty to file objections on any practical difficulty in implementing the direction (para 8).

The Court observed that it appeared the minister's statement in the Rajya Sabha, that biometric authentication had been made mandatory, had not been fully implemented despite more than a year having passed (paras 5-6).

The authorities are expected to examine the ten suggestions placed on record by Senior Advocate Tarun Gulati (para 9).

Judgment digest by NyayVidhan: a summary of the court's judgment, not its text. The judgment itself is the authoritative version.

Brief Facts

The petitioner says someone fraudulently obtained a GST registration using the petitioner's PAN and Aadhaar numbers; it was the second such case before the Bench, after W.P.(C) 6218/2026 (para 1, reproducing the order of 1 September 2026, which quotes the order of 21 August 2026). The Court requested Senior Advocate Tarun Gulati to assist and issued notice to the Commissioner of Delhi Police. On 1 September 2026 it recorded his ten suggestions, noted that the respondents did not dispute that the problem had been rampant since the CGST Act, 2017 came into force, and gave the respondents a last opportunity to find an effective solution (para 1).

Court's Findings

At the hearing on 8 September 2026 the respondents produced written submissions and a Delhi Police status report (para 2). According to the written submissions, biometric Aadhaar authentication is carried out only when the system identifies a case as 'risky' (para 3). An annexure recorded the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance telling the Rajya Sabha of 2,800 fraudulent registrations in 2023-24 involving detection of Rs. 15,085 crore of tax evasion, and 1,654 in 2024-25 with Rs. 13,109 crore detected, and that biometric Aadhaar authentication had been made mandatory (paras 4-5). The Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Shail Jain observed that it appeared that, more than a year later, this had not been fully implemented (para 6) and asked the competent authorities to take the matter up with all seriousness (para 7). As the respondents pointed to no difficulty in mandating biometric authentication, it directed, "for the time being", that no GST registration be allowed anywhere in the country without it, gave liberty to object on practical difficulties, and expected the authorities to examine Mr. Gulati's suggestions (paras 8-9).

Legal Principle

Noting continuing fraudulent GST registrations made with stolen or frozen PAN and Aadhaar details, which cause loss of revenue and harassment of innocent persons, and finding that the respondents had shown no difficulty in mandating biometric Aadhaar authentication, the Bench directed for the time being that no GST registration be allowed without it, with liberty to object (paras 6-8).

NyayVidhan's view · Practice note

Why It Matters

This is an interim direction, not a final ruling. For the time being, no GST registration is to be allowed anywhere without biometric Aadhaar authentication (para 8). Until now, the respondents said, biometric checks were run only when the system flagged an application as 'risky' (para 3). The authorities may file objections on practical difficulties and are expected to examine the amicus's ten suggestions recorded in the order of 1 September 2026 (paras 8-9). A person whose PAN or Aadhaar details were misused to obtain a registration can point to this order, which treats the problem as continuing and as a cause of revenue loss and harassment of innocent persons (paras 6-7). The petition remains pending.

Editorial comment by the NyayVidhan Editorial Desk. It is not part of the Court's judgment and is not legal advice.