Corp Mediteche Private Limited v. State of U.P. and Another

Court No. - 37 Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 1049 of 2018 Petitioner :- Corp Mediteche Private Limited Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Petitioner :- Nishant Mishra Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,A.S.G.I.,Devendra Gupta,B.K.Pandey Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J. The petitioner is the owner of the goods. Shri Nishant Mishra, learned counsel for the petitioner fairly submits that the petitioner is willing and undertakes to pay the amount of security equivalent to the amount payable under Clause (a) of Section 129 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 as has been determined in the order passed by the appellate authority. The relevant provisions are extracted herein under:- Section 129 - Detention, seizure and release of goods and conveyances in transit

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, where any person transports any goods or stores any goods while they are in transit in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, all such goods and conveyance used as a means of transport for carrying the said goods and documents relating to such goods and conveyance shall be liable to detention or seizure and after detention or seizure, shall be released,

(a) on payment of the applicable tax and penalty equal to one hundred per cent. of the tax payable on such goods and, in case of exempted goods, on payment of an amount equal to two per cent. of the value of goods or twenty-five thousand rupees, whichever is less, where the owner of the goods comes forward for payment of such tax and penalty;

(b) on payment of the applicable tax and penalty equal to the fifty per cent. of the value of the goods reduced by the tax amount paid thereon and, in case of exempted goods, on payment of an amount equal to five per cent. of the value of goods or twenty-five thousand rupees, whichever is less, where the owner of the goods does not come forward for payment of such tax and penalty;

(c) upon furnishing a security equivalent to the amount payable under clause (a) or clause (b) in such form and manner as may be prescribed: Provided that no such goods or conveyance shall be detained or seized without serving an order of detention or seizure on the person transporting the goods.

(2) The provisions of sub-section (6) of section 67 shall, mutatis mutandis, apply for detention and seizure of goods and conveyances.

(3) The proper officer detaining or seizing goods or conveyances shall issue a notice specifying the tax and penalty payable and thereafter, pass an order for payment of tax and penalty under clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c).

(4) No tax, interest or penalty shall be determined under sub-section (3) without giving the person concerned an opportunity of being heard.

(5) On payment of amount referred in sub-section (1), all proceedings in respect of the notice specified in sub-section (3) shall be deemed to be concluded.

(6) Where the person transporting any goods or the owner of the goods fails to pay the amount of tax and penalty as provided in sub-section (1) within fourteen days of such detention or seizure, further proceedings shall be initiated in accordance with the provisions of Section 130: Provided that where the detained or seized goods are perishable or hazardous in nature or are likely to depreciate in value with passage of time, the said period of fourteen days may be reduced by the proper officer. The goods have already been released. The enhanced security shall be deposited within a period of one month from today. Thereafter, the authority shall take out appropriate proceedings for assessment of the tax liability/penalty. The said security deposit shall remain subject to the result of the said adjudication. Needless to add that the impugned proceedings shall stand concluded in view of Section 129 (5) GST Act after deposit of the said security amount. Further, the findings in the impugned orders shall not influence the assessment proceedings under Section 73 and 74 of the GST Act or other appropriate provisions of the GST Act. The proceedings under Section 129 of the GST Act are summary in nature and the intent is only to protect the interest of the revenue. The deposits under Section 129 of the GST Act are always subject to final adjudication of the tax liability under the appropriate provisions of the GST Act. Accordingly, the writ petition stands disposed of. Order Date :- 29.11.2023 Jaswant High Court of Judicature at Allahabad