GST Authorities Have No Power to Seize Cash – Calcutta HC in Puspa Furniture Case

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GST authorities power to seize cash

Case Details: Puspa Furniture (P.) Ltd. vs. Union of India - [2025] 181 taxmann.com 822 (Calcutta)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

  • Om Narayan Rai, J.
  • Himangshu Kumar Ray, Subhasis Podder, Sushant Bagaria, Gaurav Chakraborty and Animitra Roy for the Petitioner.
  • N. Chatterjee, Tanoy Chakraborty, S. Sanyal, Bhaskar Prosad Banerjee, Ms. Hasi Saha, Abhradip Maity & Prithu Dudhoria for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The assessee was a private limited company. A search and seizure operation was conducted at the assessee’s office and residential premises. The proper officer found cash, which was sealed in the assessee’s premises and kept in the custody of the assessee himself. The assessee was unable to explain the source of such cash and thus, it was considered as unaccounted cash against the clandestine supply of taxable goods and services without any bill or invoice. A writ petition was filed to the Calcutta High Court contending that the GST authorities lack any power to seize any amount of cash. The GST authorities can seize goods or documents or books or things if they have reasons to believe that such goods or documents or books or things shall be useful or relevant to any proceeding under this Act and have been secreted in any place. It was not stated with any degree of conviction that the currency notes that had been seized shall be useful or relevant to any proceeding to be undertaken by GST Authorities against the petitioner or that the same could be correlated or traced to any transaction by the petitioner which respondent GST authorities were required to establish.

High Court Held

The Calcutta High Court held that money stands excluded from the purview of goods. The action of the respondent GST authorities in seizing cash and sealing the same in the custody of the petitioners is beyond the power domain of the GST authorities in the facts of the present case. Accordingly, the GST authorities were directed to forthwith de-seal the said amount so as to enable the petitioners to use the same in accordance with law.

List of Cases Reviewed

  • Commissioner of CGST v. Deepak Khandelwal [SLP NO. 18536 OF 2024, dated 19-08-2025] (supra)(para 21) followed

List of Cases Referred to

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Author: Taxmann

Taxmann Publications has a dedicated in-house Research & Editorial Team. This team consists of a team of Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, and Lawyers. This team works under the guidance and supervision of editor-in-chief Mr Rakesh Bhargava.

The Research and Editorial Team is responsible for developing reliable and accurate content for the readers. The team follows the six-sigma approach to achieve the benchmark of zero error in its publications and research platforms. The team ensures that the following publication guidelines are thoroughly followed while developing the content:

  • The statutory material is obtained only from the authorized and reliable sources
  • All the latest developments in the judicial and legislative fields are covered
  • Prepare the analytical write-ups on current, controversial, and important issues to help the readers to understand the concept and its implications
  • Every content published by Taxmann is complete, accurate and lucid
  • All evidence-based statements are supported with proper reference to Section, Circular No., Notification No. or citations
  • The golden rules of grammar, style and consistency are thoroughly followed
  • Font and size that's easy to read and remain consistent across all imprint and digital publications are applied