9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (2) TMI 1128X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s rea for evasion of taxes shifts to the assessee - This Court in umpteen cases where penalties were being imposed under Section 129 of the Act though held that an intention to evade tax should be present, however, in the event the goods are not accompanied by the invoice or the e-way bill, a presumption may be raised that there is an intention to evade tax. Such a presumption of evasion of tax then becomes rebuttable by the materials to be provided by the owner/transporter of the goods. In the present case, one comes to an inexorable conclusion that the petitioner has not been able to rebut the presumption of evasion of taxes, as he has not been able to explain the absence of invoice and the E-Way Bill. Production of these documents sub ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the vehicle carrying the goods. Subsequent to the interception, these documents were produced by the assessee. 4. Sri Pranjal Shukla has relied upon the Division Bench judgments of this Court rendered in M/s Axpress Logistics India Private Limited v. Union of India and others (Writ Tax No.602 of 2018 decided on April 9, 2018) and M/s Modern Traders v. State of U.P. and others (Writ Tax No.763 of 2018 decided on May 9, 2018) to argue that when the documents are produced after the interception and before the detention order is passed, no penalty is leviable under Section 129(3) of the Act. He further relies upon paragraph Nos.19 and 20 of the Single Bench judgment of this Court in M/s Falguni Steels v. State of U.P. and others (Writ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e tax. Such a presumption of evasion of tax then becomes rebuttable by the materials to be provided by the owner/transporter of the goods. 8. In the present case, one comes to an inexorable conclusion that the petitioner has not been able to rebut the presumption of evasion of taxes, as he has not been able to explain the absence of invoice and the E-Way Bill. Production of these documents subsequent to the interception cannot absolve the petitioner from the liability of penalty as the very purpose of imposing penalty is to act as a deterrent to persons who intend to avoid paying taxes owed to the Government. It is clear that if the goods had not been intercepted, the Government would have been out of its pocket with respect to the GST p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
