Shri Baba Traders Vs State of U.P (Allahabad High Court)
The Allahabad High Court decided multiple writ petitions through a common judgment, treating one petition as the leading case. The petitioner challenged the order dated 18.12.2025 passed by the authority and the appellate order dated 24.12.2025, which had upheld detention and penalty proceedings under the GST law.
The petitioner, a registered firm under the GST Act in Jharkhand, was engaged in the business of trading iron bars and angles. It had purchased goods from a supplier in Haryana, who issued a tax invoice. During transit, the goods were intercepted and detained on 03.12.2025 on the ground that no e-way bill accompanied them. Subsequent proceedings included issuance of various statutory forms (MOV 01, MOV 04, MOV 06, and MOV 07), culminating in a show cause notice for imposition of penalty under Section 129(1)(b) of the GST Act.
The petitioner contended that it was the owner of the goods and had responded to the show cause notice accordingly, requesting release of goods under Section 129(1)(a) of the Act. It relied on Circular dated 31.12.2018 and various judicial precedents to argue that goods should be released when the owner comes forward. It further submitted that detention was based solely on the absence of an e-way bill.
