Detention notice in transit upheld where recorded reasons showed reasonable suspicion of improper documentation and tax evasion.

A detention notice issued under section 29A(2) of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act was upheld because the authority had recorded reasons showing a reasonable suspicion that the goods in transit were not covered by proper and genuine documents or that tax evasion was attempted. The notice was supported by the failure to declare the goods at the border check-post and by unanswered notices to the consignor and consignee, with no effective rebuttal of the materials before the authority. On those facts, writ interference at the notice stage was unwarranted, and quashing of the detention notice was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the notice issued under section 29A(2) of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, detaining goods in transit and demanding security, was liable to be quashed at the notice stage.

Analysis: Section 29A(2) permits detention where the officer has reason to suspect that the goods under transport are not covered by proper and genuine documents or that there is an attempt to evade tax. The reasons recorded in the notice and the supporting statement showed that the goods were not declared at the border check-post, notices to the consignor and consignee had gone unanswered, and the materials before the authority had not been controverted. On those facts, the statutory threshold of suspicion was satisfied, and the exercise of writ jurisdiction to interfere with the detention notice at the initial stage was unwarranted.

Conclusion: The notice under section 29A(2) was valid, and interference by the learned single Judge was unjustified. The appeal succeeded, and the quashing of the notice was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statutory authority records reasons showing a reasonable suspicion of improper documentation or tax evasion, detention under section 29A(2) cannot ordinarily be quashed in writ proceedings at the notice stage.

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