Case: M/s D.K. Enterprises vs. The Assistant /Deputy Commissioner (ST)
Order No. Writ Petition No. 22646 of 2022
Authority: Madras High Court
Order passed on: 29.08.2022
In this case, the petitioner had sought directions to the respondents to release a consignment of Polystardone XL-10, a life-saving drug, which was seized and detained by the Commercial Taxes Department. According to the petitioner, the time frames that have been set out under the Act, particularly Section 129(1) proviso and 129(3) have not been adhered to in the present case.
Section 129(3) requires a notice to be issued within 7 days, stipulating the penalty payable for the alleged discrepancy and in this case, no notice was issued till 24.08.2022, when notice ostensibly dated 22.08.2022, has been sent, produced in the course of hearing. The petitioner argues that there has been no proper procedure followed, in any event, none, in line with the statutory prescription and the actions of the respondents have been irregular and contrary to the Statute and Regulations.
The department argued that the procedure followed was within time and that the limitation of 7 days expires on a holiday.
The court noted that there were serious flaws in the procedure followed, such as failure to issue an order of detention and show cause notice within 7 days as required by Section 129(1) & (3) of the CGST Act. The court also found that there were other lapses in the procedure followed by the department, such as the officer not obtaining written permission for extension of time for inspection proceedings and not uploading Part-B of Form GST EWB-03 on the portal. The court allowed the writ petition and directed the respondents to release the goods immediately. The court rejected the argument of the department that the circular had no statutory force and that the instructions were flexible.
The complete order can be downloaded from this link: https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis/index.php/casestatus/viewpdf/682574
