No detention of goods & vehicle for minor discrepancy in description of vehicle in e-way bill: HC

Case Details: Varun Beberages Ltd. v. State of U.P. - [2023] 147 taxmann.com 341 (Allahabad)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Rohit Ranjan Agarwal, J.
  • Shubham Agrawal for the Petitioner.
  • C.S.C. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was engaged in the business of manufacturing and sale of aerated water, fruit juice based drinks etc. It was making a stock transfer from its unit and mobile squad intercepted the goods and detained the vehicle on the ground that wrong vehicle number was mentioned in e-way bill. The department imposed penalty and the petitioner filed appeal but the same was rejected. It filed writ petition against imposition of penalty and detention.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that in the instant case, wrong vehicle number was mentioned in e-way bill and the stock transfer was not disputed. Moreover, there was no intention on part of dealer to evade tax and no evidence was placed by department to prove same. The Court also noted that wrong vehicle number mentioned in e-way bill would be considered as human error and same was covered under CBIC Circular No. 41/15/2018-GST dated 13-4-2018 and 49/23/2018-GST dated 21-6-2018. Therefore, it was held that the impugned order was unsustainable in the eyes of law and liable to be set aside.