A Petition has been filed in the Rajasthan High Court Constitutional Validity and Vires of Section 129 and 130 of the Central Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017 and the corresponding Sections of the Rajasthan Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017.
The Section 129 of the CGST Act, 2017 dealt with Detention, seizure and release of goods and conveyances in transit and Section 130 dealt with Confiscation of goods or conveyances and levy of penalty.
The Petition was argued by Mr. Pankaj Ghiya with Ms. Priyamvada Joshi on the grounds of it being arbitrary, unreasonable and contrary to the spirit of the Constitution.
The Petition reads that, “The impugned section 129 is drafted in a manner where everything is pre-determined and from a bare reading of the provisions it appears that the provisions do not contain anything which covers the possibility that in case the person shows bonafides and he satisfies the authority that detention or seizure of the goods is not warranted then also there is no provision to release the goods without imposition of tax and penalty. Thus the provisions are contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of India”.
“The Notice issued to the person transporting the goods is with a pre-determined mind that there is contravention of the provisions of the Act and only on the basis of preliminary inspection of the vehicle the liability is ascertained without offering a fair opportunity to the person transporting the goods or the owner of the goods to present their case”, the petition also reads.
“Further the penalty provided is excessive and there is no rationality in imposing such high penalty even if it is established that there is no evasion of tax and the detention or seizure of the goods and conveyance is detained in transit on some technical reason. Thus the provision of section 129 are drafted in the manner which causes undue enrichment to the state at the cost of the taxpayers and thus it offends the provisions of Constitution of India and thus ultra vires to the Constitution of India and beyond the legislative competence of the Parliament” the petition added.
The Division Bench comprising of Justice Mohammad Rafiq and Justice Goverdhan Bardhar on 04.12.2018 admitted the petition and issued the Notices.
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