Case Law Details
Greenlights Power Solutions Vs State Tax Officer (Kerala High Court)
Revenue found a mistake in the format in the date in respect of the e-way bill and hence the petitioner was imposed with an amount of Rs.27,540/- as tax and a penalty of Rs.27,540/-. The said final order is challenged in this writ petition.
Petitioner contended that detention of goods and the demand for furnishing security for the alleged tax and penalty payable was illegal and without authority. It was submitted that the default formatting system in the computer which generated the invoice as “mm-dd-yyyy” instead of the format adopted in India as “dd-mm-yyyy” was the cause of mistake and that for such an inconsequential and minor mistake, petitioner ought not to be subjected to such huge liabilities.
In the instant case, the discrepancy pointed out is only on the date of invoice which is shown as 03.02.2021 while that shown in the e-way bill was 02.03.2021. All other details in the invoice and the e-way bill including the nature of goods transported, the details of consignor and consignee, the GSTIN of supplier and recipient, place of delivery, invoice number, value of goods, HSN code, vehicle number etc. tallied and had no discrepancy. Thus the error noticed is insignificant and not of any consequence for invoking the power conferred under section 129 of the Act to impose tax and penalty.
The situation arising in the instant case, warranted imposition of only a minor penalty as contemplated under Circular No.64/38/2018 dated 14-09-2018. In view of the above, the imposition of tax and penalty upon the petitioner to the extent imposed in Ext.P6 is perverse and illegal, warranting interference under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
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