TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
So far ten articles as a series were written in TMI.COM only to create awareness amongst tax officials across India which may help them to avoid any adverse comments by the jurisdictional high court at a later date. Today I came across a recent division bench order of the Allahabad High Court directing the Commissioner, U P State to ensure that a particular assistant commissioner who was not aware of contents of Section 129 (3) undergoes training for three months on GST before taking any responsibility as Assistant Commissioner.
The story in short is goods were seized and without following the provisions of 129 (3), final order was also passed forcing the petitioner to approach the high court. Having gone through the issue, the court had to summon the Assistant Commissioner (Squad) to appear before the court. When the Court required the Assistant Commissioner to explain the provisions on which action was taken, he informed the court that he is not aware and he was promoted as Assistant Commissioner only during January 2025 based on seniority.
In a very rare phenomenon, the division bench on 21/08/2025 passed the order setting aside order of Assistant Commissioner and allowed the Writ Appeal in Writ tax 752 of 2025 M/s Mlv Constructions Thru. Authorized Signatory Versus State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Deptt. Of State Tax Govt. Of U.P. Lko. And Another - 2025 (8) TMI 1459 - ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT. It is not only a set back for the officer who passed the orders but also for his controlling officers who have posted him in squad. This should be an eye opener for all officers who are entrusted with the responsibility to check the movements of goods under GST.
It would not be possible in all similar cases for the high courts to call the officer who has passed the order which is in dispute. Courts usually pass stricture or impose cost on tax official but instructing the Commissioner to ensure proper training for a period of three months to the dealing assistant Commissioner is strange but warranted.
Section 129 is one of the sections which is mostly wrongly applied by the squad officials and wherever the cases reach the high courts, almost in all cases wherever there were no fraudulent intentions, the orders passed under 129 or 130 are set aside. However, neither the CBIC nor the field formation seem to take these seriously so as to arrest occurrence of similar orders.
Tax Officials are working on the assumption that legal provisions are binding only on the taxpayer and the officers may pass any orders as they may wish. In many cases, wherever the taxpayer is a Micro or Small or Medium category, they end up paying the taxes as demanded as they do not have necessary guidance or they are unaware that the officers have passed orders which are liable to be set aside when disputed in a high court.
Tax professionals may refer similar orders of jurisdictional high courts while presenting similar cases. As and when GSTAT becomes functional, these kinds of absurd orders may come down.