In a major ruling the Delhi High Court observed that ‘cash’ excluded from definition of ‘goods’ cannot be seized.
A search and seizure operation were carried out at the premises of the petitioner (i.e. the residential premises as well as shop of the petitioner) and cash in a sum of Rs. 65,00,000/- and Rs. 7,00,000/- was seized from the residential premises and office of the petitioner respectively.
The Petitioner sought a declaration that seizure of cash by respondent no.2 from the residential premises and office of the petitioner was unlawful.
K.M. Food Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. vs. Director General ( DGGI ), wherein in similar circumstances this Court while interpreting provision of Section 67 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 has held that ‘cash’ is clearly excluded from the definition of the term ‘goods’ and would fall with the definition of ‘money’ as defined in Section 2 (75) of the CGST Act.
The Court has further held that since cash is not goods, it could not have been seized under the provision of the Act, as seizure is limited to the goods liable for confiscation.
A Division Bench of Justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and Ravinder Dudeja observed that “The ratio of the said judgments squarely applied to the facts of the present case. Accordingly, we hold that there is no justification for resumption of cash and its continued retention by the respondents. Accordingly, the petition is allowed and respondents are directed to forfeit/remit the said cash seized from the premises of the petitioner to the petitioner along with interest. It is however clarified that respondents are not precluded from taking any action or instituting any other proceedings under the Act in accordingly with law.”
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