The Kerala High Court has held that penalty cannot be levied under the Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) on the ground of genuine human errors in the E-Way Bill.
The petitioner first generated E-Way Bill wherein the place of delivery was mentioned as ‘Payhanamthitta’ instead of ‘Pathanamthitta’. After realizing the mistake, the e-Way bill was canceled and the petitioner generated another e-Way bill. However, the value of the goods was mentioned as Rs.388220/- instead of Rs.3882200. During the consignment, the petitioner’s goods have been detained on account of discrepancy in the e-Way bill. Consequently, a penalty was imposed on the petitioners.
After hearing both the sides, Justice A Muhamed Mustaque observed that if a human error which can be seen on the naked eye is detected, such human error cannot be capitalized for penalization.
“Normally, this Court could not have persuaded to accept the contention on prima facie value as it is a matter for decision by the competent authority and this Court can only order the release of the vehicle and goods as against Bank guarantee. But I am persuaded to adopt a different course for the simple reason that if the petitioner had paid the IGST in accordance with the value as shown in the original bill, goods cannot be detained and shall be released to the petitioner,” the Court said.
While concluding, the Court added that if on verification, if it is found that the petitioner had paid the IGST in accordance with the value shown in Ext.P4, the vehicle, and the goods shall be released to the petitioner on executing a simple bond.
“However, if it is found that the petitioner had not paid the IGST according to the value shown in Ext.P4, the petitioner’s goods and vehicle need be released only on furnishing bank guarantee,” the Court added.
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