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TMI Blog2025 (5) TMI 296X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Mr. Government Advocate-11 JUDGMENT ( Per : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ALOK KUMAR SINHA ) 1. Heard learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner as well as the learned Counsel appearing for the respondents. 2. At the outset we would like to first deal with the issue relating to tampering/interpolation made by the Officer, Ms. Kumari Anu Soni, who on the relevant date i.e. 18.01.2024 had conducted the inspection of the petitioner's establishment in the capacity of Assistant Commissioner, State Tax and had prepared the order of seizure. By order dated 05.02.2025 we had ordered for furnishing the original records relating to inspection and seizure said to have been conducted on 18.01.2024. After the original records relating to the present ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) and in para 12 and 13 she has submitted as follows: "12. That it is submitted that apart all the submissions made above, the deponent have no previous experience of search and seizure as a team leader, therefore, while undertaking such exercise, noticing the huge gathering of the nearby local people she could not mention about the separate list of seized items as per physical verification at the appropriate and specified place of INS-02 i.e. Column (A)." "13. That the deponent undertakes not to commit such mistake in future in official records and will be more cautions in future. Thus the deponent once again tenders her unconditional apology before this Hon'ble Court for any commission or omission". 3. Although the conduct of Ms. K ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 01/2020-21 GST-Investigation dated 02.02.2021, CBIC Gst. Investigation Wing wherein in para 2(vii) it has been mandated "that the search authorisation shall be executed before the start of the search and the same shall be shown to the person In-charge of the premises to be searched and his or her signature with date and time shall be obtained on the body of the search authorisation. The signature of the witnesses with date and time should also be obtained on the body of the search authorisation". Since as per the petitioner the search/inspection was in violation of Section 67(10) of BGST/ CGST Act, 2017 therefore the demand dated 09.05.2024 based on such inspection was not proper and thus fit to be set-aside. 5. Per Contra, the respondent ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ly to be rejected for the reasons that on careful perusal of the inspection report dated 18.01.2024 (Annexure 'P-1' to the writ application) it is evident that it has been signed by two witnesses, namely- Sri Sandeep Jaiswal and Sri Ram Pravesh Yadav. Sri Sandeep Jaiswal admittedly happens to be the son of the proprietor of the petitioner and Sri Ram Pravesh Yadav happens to be the staff of the petitioner. Both are, therefore, connected to the petitioner and have no independent status as a witness. The inspection report, therefore, does not contain the names and signatures of two independent witnesses which is the mandatory requirement of Section 67 of the BGST/CGST Act, 2017. To cover up this serious deficiency, the respondents have mentio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... erpolated by Ms. Kumari Anu Soni who is the maker of the said document, further makes the order of seizure totally invalid and unreliable. 8. In the above circumstances, we find that the inspection was carried out without any independent witnesses and even the order of seizure is invalid due to tampered/ interpolated documents, on both these counts they are against the provision as contained under Section 67 of the BGST/CGST Act, 2017 read with Section 100 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. 9. On the above reasoning, we set-a-side the demand order dated 09.05.2024 (Annexure 'P-4' to the writ application) which is based on the inspection said to have been carried out on 18.01.2024, and we admonish Ms. Kumari Anu Soni, Deputy Commissi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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