Sandip Kumar Pandey & Anr. Vs Assistant Commissioner of State Tax (Calcutta High Court)
The Hon’ble Calcutta High Court in Sandip Kumar Pandey & Anr. v. Assistant Commissioner of State Tax & Ors. [M.A.T. 1088 of 2025, dated August 07, 2025] quashed penalty imposed under Section 129(1)(b) of the Central Goods Service Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”), holding that the Department erred in treating the supplier’s denial of business operations as “gospel truth” without conducting any verification and none of the situations signify necessary intention to evade tax, which is pre-condition for invoking of Section 129, CGST Act.
Facts:
Sandip Kumar Pandey (“the Appellant”), engaged in garment trading, purchased goods from M/s. Ghosh Enterprises under a tax invoice accompanied by a valid e-way bill. The consignment was intercepted by the State Tax authorities under Section 68 of CGST Act read with (“r/w”) Rule 138A of West Bengal Goods & Service Tax (“WBGST”) Rules, 2017 for verification of genuineness.
The Department (“the Respondent”) relied solely on the statement of Supplier, who denied operating the business under the GSTIN, and issued a Show Cause Notice (“SCN”) under Section 129(3) of the CGST Act alleging transportation of goods without valid documents. Without further verification, the Respondent imposed penalty under Section 129(1)(b) of the CGST Act.
