Bank Guarantee shall not be encashed where appeal is preferred against detention order

Quality Enterprises Vs Assistant State Tax Officer (Kerala High Court)

Hon’ble Kerala High Court in the case of Quality Enterprises v. Assistant State Tax Officer [W.P. (C) No. 18212 of 2020 dated September 18, 2020] has held that bank guarantee shall not be encashed till such time where assessee preferred appeal against the detention order before the Appellate authority.

Facts:

This writ petition has been filed by Quality Enterprises (“Petitioner”) seeking a direction to Appellate Authority to consider and pass order on appeal expeditiously and to keep in abeyance coercive steps for encashing bank guarantee, whereby goods have been detained by the Assistant State Tax Officer (“Respondent / Authority”) noticing a discrepancy in the documents that ought to have accompanied the transportation of the goods. The Petitioner furnished a bank guarantee before the respondent for enabling an expeditious clearance of the goods and the vehicle.

Issue:

Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.