CEAT Limited Vs State of Gujarat & Anr. (Gujarat High Court)
Order was passed. Such order was unsuccessfully challenged in appeal. Hence, petition was filed. The Hon’ble High Court of Gujarat allowed the writ petition and set aside the orders.
The petitioner is a leading manufacturer of tyres. It sent goods from depot in Maharashtra to its factory at Halol, Gujarat. There was no sale involved. An invoice was prepared. An E way bill was generated. However, the goods were intercepted at Vadodara. It was alleged that Part B of the E-way bill did not contain the truck number and hence, penalty (equal to tax) must be visited on the petitioner. Order was passed. Such order was unsuccessfully challenged in appeal. Hence, petition was filed. The Hon’ble High Court of Gujarat allowed the writ petition and set aside the orders. It held: (i) section 12(14) provides for imposition of penalty of Rs.10,000/- only and the authorities have not assigned any reasons for imposition of penalty equivalent to tax; (ii) penalty must not be visited for technical violations such as non mention of truck number on Part B of E way bill (iii) refers to and relies on several judgments of Hon’ble High Court of Gujarat and Hon’ble Allahabad High Court on the said issue; (iv) remits matter to the original authority to pass reasoned order in light of the above decisions.
