E-way bill Part-B omission is only a technical breach; penalty under GST detention provisions needs recorded tax evasion.

Mere non-filling of Part-B of an e-way bill under Rule 138 was treated as a technical breach and, without a recorded finding of intent to evade tax, did not sustain penalty under Section 129(3) of the Uttar Pradesh GST Act, 2017. The impugned order rested only on the procedural lapse and contained no finding of tax evasion. On that basis, the penalty was held unsustainable and the order liable to be set aside in favour of the petitioner.

---

---

Issues: Whether penalty under Section 129(3) of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 could be sustained solely on account of non-filling of Part-B of the e-way bill, in the absence of any recorded finding of intention to evade tax.

Analysis: The impugned order proceeded only on the violation of Rule 138 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 due to non-filling of Part-B of the e-way bill. It did not record any finding that the movement of goods involved an attempt to evade tax. The governing view applied was that mere non-filling of Part-B, by itself, constitutes only a technical breach and does not justify penalty under Section 129 unless tax evasion is found and recorded.

Conclusion: The penalty could not be sustained, and the impugned order was liable to be set aside in favour of the petitioner.

---