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TMI Blog2020 (5) TMI 93X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... J- 19-GF-6225 at Unjha Highway at about 5:45 p.m. on 9.3.2019 as well as the notice dated 10.3.2019 issued by the respondent No.2 for confiscation of goods or conveyance and levy of penalty under Section 130 of the GST Act as the said actions of the respondent no.2 are absolutely illegal, unlawful, contrary to the facts and evidence on record, violative of principles of natural justice and against the provisions of the Act and Rules framed thereunder. B. During the admission, hearing and final disposal of the present Petition, this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to grant an interim relief directing the respondent No.2 to release the goods conveyance in question forthwith on any term or condition as may be fixed by this Hon'ble Court. C. The Hon'ble Court may be pleased to pass any other order or relief as may be deemed fit to the Hon'ble Court." 3. We take note of the order, passed by a Coordinate Bench of this Court, dated 27th March, 2019, which reads thus: "1. Leave to delete the respondents No.3, 4 and 5 from the array of the respondents. 2. Mr. D. K. Puj, learned advocate for the petitioner has invited the attention of the court to the notice for confiscation of goods o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for the writ applicant to point out the recent pronouncement of this Court in the case of Synergy Fertichem Pvt.Ltd V/s. State of Gujarat [Special Civil Application No.4730 of 2019]. It shall be open for the writ applicant to rely on the observations made by this Court in paragraph Nos.99 to 104 of the said judgment, which read thus: "99.It is practically impossible to envisage various types of contravention of the provisions of the Act or the Rules for the purpose of detention and seizure of the goods and conveyances in transit. The contravention could be trivial or it may be quite serious sufficient enough to justify the detention and seizure. This litigation is nothing but an outburst on the part of the dealers that practically in all cases of detention and seizure of goods and conveyance, the authorities would straightway invoke Section 130 of the Act and thereby would straightway issue notice calling upon the owner of the goods or the owner of the conveyance to show-cause as to why the goods or the conveyance, as the case may be, should not be confiscated. Once such a notice under Section 130 of the Act is issued right at the inception, I.e, right at the time of detention a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e of Section 130 of the Act. What we are trying to convey is that in a given case, the contravention may be quite trivial or may not be of such a magnitude which by itself would be sufficient to take the view that the contravention was with the necessary intent to evade payment of tax. 102. In such circumstances, referred to above, we propose to take the view that in all cases, without any application of mind and without any justifiable grounds or reasons to believe, the authorities may not be justified to straightway issue a notice of confiscation under Section 130 of the Act. For the purpose of issuing a notice of confiscation under Section 130 of the Act at the threshold, I.e,. at the stage of Section 129 of the Act itself, the case has to be of such a nature that on the face of the entire transaction, the authority concerned is convinced that the contravention was with a definite intent to evade payment of tax. We may give one simple example. The driver of the vehicle is in a position to produce all the relevant documents to the satisfaction of the authority concerned as regards payment of tax etc., but unfortunately, he is not able to produce the e-way bill , which is also o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ies concerned cannot invoke Section 130 of the Act at the threshold, I.e., at the stage of detention and seizure. What we are trying to convey is that for the purpose of invoking Section 130 of the Act at the very threshold, the authorities need to make out a very strong case. Merely on suspicion, the authorities may not be justified in invoking Section 130 of the Act straightway. If the authorities are of the view that the case is one of invoking Section 130 of the Act at the very threshold, then they need to record their reasons for such belief in writing, and such reasons recorded in writing should, thereafter, be looked into by the superior authority so that the superior authority can take an appropriate decision whether the case is one of straightway invoking Section 130 of the Act. Any opinion of the authority to be formed is not subject to objective test. The language of Section 130 of the Act leaves no room for the relevance of an official examination as to the sufficiency of the ground on which the authority may act or proceed for the purpose of confiscation at the very threshold. But, at the same time, there must be material based on which alone the authority could form ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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