Case Law Details
Rivigo Services Private Limited Vs The State of Jharkhand and Others (Jharkhand High Court)13/06/
Jharkhand High Court held that impugned order passed, confirming penalty for expiry of e-way bill, without proper application of mind and without dealing with the contention raised by the petitioner is against the violation of principles of natural justice and hence bad in law.
Facts- Joint Commissioner of State (Appeal), Jamshedpur Division, Jamshedpur by the impugned order dated 26th July, 2019 passed in Appeal Case No. IB-GST-A-02/2018-19 has confirmed the order of penalty dated 12th July, 2018 passed by the State Tax Officer, Intelligence Bureau, Jamshedpur Division, Jamshedpur (Annexure-10), also impugned herein, wherein a penalty of Rs. 8,25,828/- has been imposed under Section 129(1)(b) of CGST Act. Petitioner has also sought refund of the Original Bank Guarantee bearing no. 00GM03181990001 dated 18th July, 2018, as amended, for an amount of Rs. 8,25,828/- deposited by him in terms of penalty order. Petitioner has also sought a declaration that entire exercise of seizure and detention undertaken by the respondent no. 3 is wholly illegal and without jurisdiction.
The main issue involved in the present case is relating to expiry of validity period of e-way bill.
Conclusion- It is true that neither the State Tax Officer nor Appellate Authority has examined the plea raised by the petitioner based on GPS tracking report of the vehicle. The impugned orders have been passed without taking into consideration the explanation and defence taken by the petitioner in their reply before the Tax Officer in response to the show-cause notice under GST MOV 07. The State Tax Officer has only taken into consideration one of the plea that the driver was illiterate/semi-literate and did not realize the consequences of expiry of e-way bill. The impugned order also does not reflect due consideration of plea taken by the petitioner based on GPS tracking report of the vehicle. The impugned orders therefore have been passed without proper application of mind and without dealing with the contention raised by the petitioner. It suffers from violation of principles of natural justice.
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