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2019 (7) TMI 193 - HC - VAT and Sales TaxRelease of seized goods - ownership of goods could not be proved - Section 34 (2) of the DVAT Act - HELD THAT:- Clearly, the goods cannot be released to the Petitioners unless they prove ownership of such goods. The directions issued by this Court in the judgment dated 12th February 2016 are clear. The DT&T was required to get to the bottom of the entire case and unearth the complete facts not only regarding the goods that were seized on 1st March 2014, but also with regard to the modus operandi deployed not only by the Petitioners but also in other similar instances. The Court had noted that this could not have and in fact was not a solitary instance where valuable goods in the form of gold and silver jewellery and even cash were being transported from one State to the other through road and rail without any proper checks either by the DT&T or the Police. There was no stay of the proceedings of the Committee at any stage. Irrespective of the deliberate failure of the Petitioners to participate in the verification exercise, it was incumbent upon the Committee constituted by the CTT to have concluded its proceedings and determined whether the documents submitted by the Petitioners were genuine and whether the documents proved their ownership of the seized goods. This exercise could not have gone on endlessly and that too for over three years. As far as the Petitioners’ objections to the constitution of the Committee by the CTT is concerned, as already noticed hereinbefore, there was no legal basis for the Petitioners to question the constitution of such a committee. The Petitioners not having challenged the judgment dated 12th February 2016 passed by this Court negating their pleas, could not have turned around to question the constitution of the committee - The Court accordingly hereby negatives the objections raised by the Petitioners to the constitution of the Committee by the DT&T and directs the Committee to now conclude its proceedings by preparing and releasing its report on the documents submitted by the Petitioners not later than 31st July 2019. Petition disposed off.
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