A single judge bench of the Madras High Court comprising of Justice M. Sundar set aside the order of The Deputy State Tax Officer who imposed a heavy penalty and detained the truck of the petitioner whose e-way bill had expired due to the blocked portal. The court applied a minor penalty of Rs. 5k as per a circular dated May 31, 2019.
Brief Facts:
A truck bearing Registration No.TN28-AQ-9203 which was carrying a consignment of Angles from Gummidipoondi to Ranipet was intercepted in the wee hours i.e., at about 04.00 am at Walaja toll. After the interception, the impugned proceedings came to be made detaining the truck with the consignment. The only ground on which the impugned proceedings have been made is that the e-way bill had expired.
Contentions of the Petitioner:
Learned counsel for thepetitioner submitted that on interception and detention, the portal was blocked and therefore, the extension of e-way bill could not be done through the writ petitioner had a good four hours from the time of detention. The order did not even mention the blocked portal.
Contentions of the Respondent:
Learned counsel of the Respondent submitted that in cases of this nature, the owner of the consignment should come before the writ Court and not the transporter. On a perusal of the order, it comes to light that 25.08.2022 order made by a Hon'ble single Judge pertains to cases where the goods transported were not accompanied by documents, the documents accompanying the consignment were deficient and, in another case, there were alleged discrepancies in the e-way bill/documents and therefore this 25.08.2022 order made in TCI Freight Vs. The Assistant Commissioner and another are distinguishable on facts qua factual matrix of case on hand.
Observations of the Court:
The court held that a careful perusal of the facts and circumstances of the case, shows with no doubt that there would have been no revenue loss to the respondent/State if the truck had reached the destination without being intercepted. As per the relevant provisions of the circular dated 31.05.2019 being Circular No. 10/2019, Q1/17253/2019 pertaining to the enforcement of G & ST, in cases where the E-way bill has expired due to delay in making delivery at various locations, penalty of up to Rs.5000/- per Act shall be levied. Further, E-way bill does not create any scope for evasion. Absent evasion, there can be no revenue loss.
Decision of the Court:
The order made by the respondent was set aside with a directive that the writ petitioner shall pay a penalty of Rs. 5k.
Case Title: Tvl. Thiruvannamalaiyar Transport vs The Deputy State Tax Officer and another
Coram: Honourable Mr. Justice M. Sundar
Citation: W.P. No. 32960 of 2022 and WMP. No. 32361 of 2022 in W.P. No. 32960 of 2022
Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr. B. Raveendran
Advocate for the Respondents: Mr. T.N.C. Kaushik
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