TMI Blog2022 (7) TMI 603X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tax. In order to justify invocation of the power to impose penalty in terms of the said Act, it is necessary that such authority arrives at a definite finding that there was a deliberate and willful attempt on the part of the assessee to evade tax or there is lack of bona fide. This Court already held that there is no lack of bona fide on the part of the writ petitioner in the instant case for not extending the validity period of the E-Way bill within the short period of time. It is also not a case of willful attempt on the part of the writ petitioner to evade payment of tax - It is the admitted position that the petitioner has paid the amount of penalty levied by the adjudicating authority and the vehicle was also released thereafter. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bile Crane was to be transported from Haryana and delivered to the petitioner at the East Sikkim site. While the said crane was being transported by road on the basis of E-Way bill dated September 25, 2021, the vehicle carrying the crane, which was parked at Fulbari bypass was intercepted by the office of the respondent no.2, i.e. the Assistant Commissioner, State Tax, Bureau of Investigation and the same was detained on the ground that the validity period of the said E-Way bill had expired. 3. A show cause notice was issued asking the petitioner to show cause as to why the proposed tax and penalty should not be payable. Petitioner replied to the show cause notice and as directed by the respondent no.2 appeared before the Adjudicating au ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... office of the respondent no.2. The learned Advocate for the petitioner submits that neither the adjudicating authority nor the appellate authority returned a finding that the petitioner had the intention to evade tax. He refers to a judgment and order dated May 12, 2022 passed by a Hon ble Division Bench in M.A.T. No.470 of 2022 in the case of Assistant Commissioner, State Tax, Durgapore Range, Government of West Bengal Vs. Ashok Kumar Sureka, Proprietor of Subham Steel and submits that on more or less identical facts, the Hon ble Division Bench was of the view that such minor delay in extending the validity period of the E-Way bill without an intention to evade tax cannot saddle an assessee by way of imposition of penalty. 8. Mr. Ghosh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a very long one. It is further not in dispute that the said crane was being transported vide a valid E-Way bill though the validity of the same stood expired some hours prior to the time of interception. 12. The issue in this appeal is whether the authorities were justified in imposing tax and penalty on the ground that, at the time of interception, the validity period of the E-Way bill stood expired. 13. Though the learned Advocate for the petitioner disputed the exact time of interception of the vehicle carrying the Hydraulic Mobile Crane but the fact remains that at the time of interception, the validity period of the E-Way bill stood expired. It is not in dispute that the validity period of the E-Way bill stood expired on October ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the parties, we are of the view that in the instant case, the bona fides of the writ petitioner has to be tested on the documents, which were available on record. Firstly, we find that the tax invoice has been raised by Bhaskar Steel and Ferro Alloy Pvt. Ltd. dated 7th September, 2019. There is no dispute as regards the quantity and description of the goods. The said vendor had raised the e-way bill dated 7th September, 2019 as the goods were to be despatched from SRMB Srijan Pvt. Ltd. to the writ petitioner, who had its registered office at Kolkata. The said e-way bill was valid upto 9th September, 2019 since the approximate distance was about 168 kilometers. The writ petitioner s case was that they are traders and they had a supply order ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion of tax and penalty. 17. After going through the order of adjudicating as well as the order passed by the appellate authority, this Court finds that the aforesaid authorities have not returned any finding that there was any deliberate and willful attempt on the part of the writ petitioner to evade payment of tax. In order to justify invocation of the power to impose penalty in terms of the said Act, it is necessary that such authority arrives at a definite finding that there was a deliberate and willful attempt on the part of the assessee to evade tax or there is lack of bona fide. 18. This Court already held that there is no lack of bona fide on the part of the writ petitioner in the instant case for not extending the validity per ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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