No penalty if e-Way bill expired during transit due to circumstances beyond assessee’s control: HC

Case Details: Daya Shanker Singh v. State of Madhya Pradesh - [2022] 142 taxmann.com 266 (Madhya Pradesh)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Sujoy Paul & Prakash Chandra Gupta, JJ.
  • Abhishek Kumar Dhayani, Adv. for the Petitioner.
  • Darshan Soni, Adv. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

In the instant case, the E-way Bill was expired in midnight and the goods of petitioner were detained early next morning on ground of expiry of E-way Bill. It submitted that there was no element of tax evasion and fraudulent intent but the department imposed penalty. It filed writ petition against the penalty order.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court observed that the E-way Bill of the petitioner was valid up to 19/05/2022 and truck was intercepted on 20/05/2022 at 4.35 A.M. Section 126 of CGST Act, 2017 clearly provides that no penalty should be imposed for ‘minor breaches’ or procedural requirements or omission etc. In this case, mere delay of 4:30 hours appeared to be bona fide. Moreover, the fraudulent intent and negligence on part of petitioner was not established and there was no revenue loss. Therefore, the penalty imposed on petitioner was liable to be set aside.