Neelmetal Products Ltd. SIDCUL Pantnagar Vs Commissioner State Tax (Joint Commissioner (Appeal), State Tax, Haldani)
Penalty not justified where E way bill was generated against Invoice Number instead of Bill of Entry- Uttarakhand Appellate Authority
Uttarakhand GST Appellate authority sets aside penalty order under section 129 for clerical error in e waybill. In the E way bill, the document number was mentioned instead of the Invoice number. Both Document numbers and invoice numbers were mentioned on the Invoice and both are serially numbered. Joint Commissioner (Appeal), State-Tax, Haldwani, in light of Circular No.- 64/38/2018; Dated 14-09-2018 quashed the order of Assitant commissioner demanding integrated tax and Penalty of Rs 1,29,915 each under section 129 and instead levied a general penalty of Rs 1,000/- on the Appellant. The honorable Authority made the following major observations in this regard:
1) Section 129(3) shall be invoked if E-way Bill or Invoice/ Bill of entry/ Delivery Challan/ Bill of Supply is not available with the vehicle. If these documents are available with the vehicle Section 129(3) can not be invoked.
2) It is mandatory for the proper officer to set out the relevant facts and the basis of his decision in his order.
3) Imposing penalty for Human or technical errors is not justified.
4) Power to impose the penalty is a discretionary power of the authority and shall be exercised judicially considering the relevant facts.
