Statutory limits on vehicle seizure under Gujarat VAT law: detention outside a notified check-post lacked lawful authority.

Section 68 of the Gujarat VAT Act authorises seizure of a vehicle or goods only through the officer-in-charge of a notified check-post or barrier, and only where the prescribed declaration is not made or carried. Because the truck was intercepted away from any notified check-post or barrier, the officer issuing the seizure memo was not the statutory officer-in-charge and the detention had no lawful source of power. The seizure memo and detention of the truck and goods were therefore without authority of law and could not be sustained; release was directed.

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Issues: Whether seizure of the truck and goods was valid when the vehicle was intercepted at a place other than a check-post or barrier and the officer passing the detention order was not the officer-in-charge contemplated by section 68(4) of the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003.

Analysis: Section 68(1) empowers the State Government to establish check-posts or barriers by notification, and section 68(4) authorises seizure only by the officer-in-charge of such check-post or barrier when the prescribed declaration is not made or not carried. In the present case, the truck was detained at a place other than a notified check-post or barrier. The officer who issued the seizure memo therefore did not act as the officer-in-charge contemplated by the statute. The detention and seizure were consequently not traceable to the statutory source of power.

Conclusion: The seizure memo and the detention of the truck and goods were without authority of law and could not be sustained. The petition was allowed and release of the truck and goods was directed.

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