Contemporaneous transit documents and verified records govern goods detention; later unsubstantiated material cannot sustain penalty.

Detention and penalty under Section 129 of the Uttar Pradesh GST Act were found unsustainable where the tax invoice, e-way bill and GR accompanied the goods and the contemporaneous interception and physical verification records showed no discrepancy in quantity, quality or identity. Later reliance on unverified additional material could not cure the defect in the original detention record. The owner of the goods had also come forward, so the proceedings could not be sustained under the wrong statutory footing. On that basis, the detention and penalty were vitiated and the writ petition succeeded.

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Issues: Whether detention of goods, levy of tax and penalty under Section 129 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and the appellate affirmation thereof were sustainable in view of the accompanying documents, the physical verification report, the subsequent reliance on additional material, and the fact that the owner of the goods had come forward.

Analysis: The goods were intercepted with tax invoice, e-way bill and GR, and the contemporaneous interception and physical verification records did not disclose any discrepancy in quantity, quality or identity of the goods. The later attempt to treat the goods as different from the declared goods was not supported by any expert opinion, laboratory report, or other reliable material. The appellate authority also relied on additional evidence produced by the Revenue, although such material was not part of the original detention record and could not be used to improve the original order. The Court further held that once the owner of the goods came forward, proceedings could not be sustained under Section 129(1)(b) when the statutory scheme contemplated action under Section 129(1)(a). The detention and penalty were thus found to be vitiated.

Conclusion: The levy of detention and penalty was unsustainable and the writ petition was allowed in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: In transit detention matters under Section 129 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, contemporaneous statutory records and verified documents control the outcome, later unsubstantiated material cannot be used to sustain the order, and where the owner of the goods comes forward, penalty must be considered only within the statutory framework applicable to that situation.

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