Arvind Goyal CA Vs Union of India & Ors. (Delhi High Court)
The Hon’ble Delhi High Court in Arvind Goyal CA v. Union of India & Ors. [W.P.(C) 12499/2021 dated January 19, 2023] has held that, seizure under Section 67 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”) is limited to goods liable for confiscation or any documents, books or things which may be useful for or relevant to any proceedings and ‘cash’ does not fall within the definition of ‘goods’ therefore, the action of Goods and Services Tax (“GST”) officers of taking away currency was illegal and without any authority of law.
Facts:
Arvind Goyal (“the Petitioner”) is a Chartered Accountant and a search proceeding was carried out at his residence on December 4, 2020 by GST officers, AE, Delhi (“the Respondent”) and during this search, the Respondent found cash amounting to INR 1,22,87,000/- which was taken in possession, however, no seizure memo was issued, only a panchnama was drawn up which indicated that the Respondent have taken possession of certain items including cash amounting to INR 1,22,87,000/-. Further, the amount of INR 18,87,000/- was returned to the Petitioner along with the laptop and mobile phones seized during the search.
The Petitioner contended that:
