We take the reference of below mentioned case law from the book of #icai 'Significant Judicial and Advance Rulings in #gst : A Compilation'.
38. ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER vs. M/S SATYAM SHIVAM PAPERS PVT. LTD. [(2022) 134 TAXMANN.COM 241 (SUPREME COURT)]
No penalty to be imposed and no tax evasion to be presumed on non-extension of #ewaybill due to agitation and blocked traffic
Background:
• Hon’ble Telangana High Court in the assessee’s writ petition set aside the order passed by the GST authorities in Form GST MOV-09, imposing tax and penalty on the assessee due to the expiry of the e-way bill. The High Court also deprecated the GST authorities for blatant abuse of power in detaining goods by treating validity of the expiry on the e-way bill as amounting to evasion of tax.
• The Revenue filed a petition before the Hon’ble Supreme Court challenging the judgment of the High Court.
Point of Dispute:
• Expiry of e-way bill due to road blockage, traffic jam or due to any other unprecedented circumstances - whether a fit case for invocation of section 129?
Legal Principles and Scope of Decision:
• The High Court had meticulously examined and correctly found that no fault or intent to evade tax could have been inferred against the assessee.
• The High Court has rightly arrived at the following findings: o It was the duty of GST authorities to consider the explanation offered by the assessee as to why the goods could not be delivered during the validity period of the e-way bill
o The GST authorities could not have drawn an inference that the assessee was evading tax merely because the e-way bill had expired.
Conclusion:
• The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India affirmed the judgment passed by the Telangana High Court and held that, tax evasion cannot be presumed on mere non-extension of validity of e-way bill by the assessee due to traffic blockage and agitation etc.