In a recent judgment the Calcutta High Court ruled that travelling without proper E-way bill attracts penalty.
The goods of the petitioner, Pushpa Devi Jain, were found moving without a valid e-way bill. The vehicle was intercepted, inspected and thereafter detained as the person in charge of the goods failed to produce a valid e-way bill. The goods were later released upon payment of penalty.
A show cause notice was issued and opportunity of hearing was given to the petitioner. The proposed penalty was accepted and paid by the tax payer without raising any objection. The adjudicating authority, in the absence of any objection, confirmed the penalty. An appeal was preferred and was considered and rejected.
The petitioner challenged the order passed by the adjudicating authority under Section 129(3) of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the order affirming the same by the appellate authority.
The Advocate for the petitioner contended that the imposition of penalty is illegal as the petitioner did not have any deliberate intention to evade tax. The vehicle in question suffered a breakdown in the course of journey and the same had to be repaired prior to resuming movement. The e-way bill expired in the last lap of the journey when the vehicle was only twenty kilometres away from the final destination.
The Counsel also contended that the authority ought to have exercised their discretion to invoke the relevant sub section of Section 129 of the Act instead of routinely imposing penalty directing payment of amount equal to two hundred percent of the tax payable on the goods transported.
The Counsel for the respondents submitted that the petitioner never raised any objection at the initial stage and paid the penalty that was imposed. The appeal was a formal one without any supporting documents. As the vehicle was found to be moving without the valid papers, the authority acted in accordance with the relevant statute and imposed penalty.
A Bench of Justice Amrita Sinha noted that “Travelling without a proper e-way bill attracts penalty. The authority assessed the penalty amount and the petitioner deposited the same without a murmur.”
The Court also observed that “The State is no way responsible for the delay in movement of the goods of the petitioner. Apart from a bald statement that the vehicle broke down in the midst of the journey, there is no document in support of such statement. The practice and procedure to obtain way bill electronically from the portal suggests that there is minimal manual interference and there is no scope to exercise discretion at any stage.”
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
