Transit goods detention requires statutory findings of non-accounting and tax evasion; suspicion alone cannot justify seizure.

Detention of goods in transit at an entry check-post was unlawful where the accompanying documents were in order and the statutory conditions for detention were not satisfied. Under the scheme, the officer could detain goods only if they were not properly accounted for and tax evasion was established; otherwise, a transit pass had to be issued. Mere suspicion of possible local sale, or an unusual entry endorsement, could not replace the jurisdictional requirement. The detention order, being based only on suspicion and not on recorded findings of non-accounting or evasion, was liable to be quashed and the goods released.

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Issues: Whether goods in transit could be detained at the entry check-post merely on suspicion of possible local sale when the accompanying documents were found in order and a transit pass was to be issued under the statutory scheme.

Analysis: The statutory framework distinguished between detention of goods under the check-post power and the issue of a transit pass. Under section 29, detention was permissible only where the goods were not properly accounted for and the officer was satisfied that there was evasion of tax. Where the documents accompanying the consignment were satisfactory, the officer had to issue a transit pass under section 29-B. The mere presence of an unusual exit check-post entry, or a suspicion that the goods might be sold within the State, did not satisfy the conditions for detention. The order of detention itself proceeded on suspicion and did not record that the goods were not accounted for or that tax evasion had been established. The presumption of local sale under the transit-pass scheme could arise only at the later stage when the pass was not surrendered at the exit check-post, not at the stage of entry and issuance of the pass.

Conclusion: The detention was not authorised under the statute and was liable to be quashed; release of the goods followed.

Ratio Decidendi: Detention of transit goods at a check-post is lawful only when the statutory conditions for non-accounting and tax evasion are satisfied, and suspicion alone cannot substitute for that jurisdictional requirement.

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