Seizure powers at notified check-posts only: highway seizure without jurisdiction under the Gujarat VAT framework

Section 68 of the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003 confers seizure and detention powers only on the officer in charge of a notified check-post or barrier, and those powers are confined to action taken at such locations. A seizure memo issued on a highway by a Commercial Tax Officer who was not in charge of any notified check-post or barrier was therefore beyond jurisdiction. Section 69, which deals with penalty for failure to carry transit documents, did not authorise seizure of goods or vehicle under section 68(4)(b). The impugned seizure memo was accordingly without authority of law and liable to be set aside.

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Issues: Whether the seizure memo issued under section 68(4)(b) of the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003 by an officer who was not in charge of a notified check-post or barrier was without jurisdiction and liable to be quashed.

Analysis: Section 68 of the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003 confers seizure and detention powers only on the officer in charge of a notified check-post or barrier, and the statutory scheme under sub-sections (1), (4) and (5) links those powers to action taken at such check-posts or barriers. The impugned action was taken on the highway by the Commercial Tax Officer, who was not the officer in charge of any notified check-post or barrier. The existence of section 69, which provides for penalty in cases where transit documents are not carried, did not validate the seizure, because that provision does not authorise seizure of goods or vehicle under section 68(4)(b).

Conclusion: The seizure memo was without authority of law and lacked jurisdiction, and was therefore liable to be set aside.

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