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TMI Blog2023 (3) TMI 528X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y under Section 129(3) of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the order affirming the same by the appellate authority. The goods of the petitioner were found moving without a valid e-way bill. The vehicle was intercepted, inspected and thereafter detained as the person in charge of the goods failed to produce a valid e-way bill. The goods were later released upon payment of penalty. A show cause notice was issued and opportunity of hearing was given to the petitioner. The proposed penalty was accepted and paid by the tax payer on 25th April, 2022 without raising any objection. The adjudicating authority, in the absence of any objection, confirmed the penalty. On 18th July, 2022, an appeal was preferred. The said appeal w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and others -vs- Satyam Shivam Papers Pvt. Limited & Anr; 2022 SCC Online SC 115. Reliance has also been placed on the judgment passed on 12th May, 2022 in MAT 470 of 2022 with I.A CAN 1 of 2022; Assistant Commissioner, State Tax, Durgapore Range, Government of West Bengal -vs- Ashok Kumar Sureka, Proprietor of Subham Steel and the order dated 26th July, 2022 in WPA 15469 of 2022, Ramji Jaiswal & Anr. -vs- State Tax Officer, Bureau of Investigation (South Bengal) Kharagpur Zone & Ors. Prayer has been made for setting aside the order passed by the adjudicating authority, appellate forum and for refund of the penalty amount which has been collected arbitrarily upon non application of mind. The respondents oppose the prayer of the petitione ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was imposed. The appeal filed was also very formal and the petitioner was unable to rebut the charge of transporting goods without a valid e-way bill. From the documents available before the Court it does not appear that the petitioner genuinely intended to contest the charge brought against her. On the contrary, the petitioner without any objection deposited the penalty amount. It seems that the petitioner is raising all the issues for the first time before the High Court in the present proceeding. Various authorities of the Court have been relied upon by the petitioner to contend that as the petitioner did not have any intension to evade tax, accordingly, the penalty ought not to have been imposed even though the goods were found to be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f traffic. The movement of the vehicle got blocked because of mass agitation against CAA and NRC. To add to the same, the respondent authority kept the detained goods in the house of a relative of one of the respondents instead of the designated place for safe custody for sixteen days at a stretch. Mass agitation for hours together blocking traffic is an exceptional situation, completely beyond the control of an individual. Because of the same the entire traffic system halts. The Court rightly observed that it is for the State to provide smooth passage of traffic. As the State failed to provide free passage, accordingly, the authority cannot impose penalty upon an individual. The case in hand is not so. The State is no way responsible for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bill electronically from the portal suggests that there is minimal manual interference and there is no scope to exercise discretion at any stage. Opportunity of hearing is given to allow the person in charge of the goods and/or the conveyance to produce relevant documents to rebut the charge and not for examining the reason or ground for not being able to act in accordance with law. The Hon'ble High Court in Ashok Kumar Sureka (supra) did not lay down any ratio to be followed. On the other hand, the Court arrived at the said conclusion on the peculiar facts of the said case and specifically recorded that the same cannot be treated as a precedent. In Ramji Jaiswal (supra) the Hon'ble Court opined that the respondents could not make out an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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