Assistant State Tax Officer Vs Hindustan Coca Cola Private Limited (Kerala High Court)
The writ appeals were filed by the Revenue challenging the judgment of a learned Single Judge of the Kerala High Court, which had set aside proceedings initiated under Section 129(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act and the corresponding State/Union Territory GST Acts.
The Department contended that the goods were rightly detained despite being accompanied by e-way bills, on the ground of mis-description of the commodity, particularly relating to a difference in HSN classification. However, the detention notice itself showed that all statutory documents, including e-way bills, were accompanying the consignment with the same description. The Court observed that where the alleged discrepancy relates to classification or description, it is for the detaining officer to inform the assessing authority, which may then examine the issue during assessment proceedings.
The Court held that proceedings under Section 129 based on misclassification or mis-description were not warranted. It affirmed that the Single Judge was justified in allowing the writ petition, especially since the issue had already been decided against the Revenue in earlier judgments of the Court. Consequently, the appeals were dismissed, while permitting the Revenue to raise such issues during assessment proceedings if so advised.
