Attendance under Section 70 CGST summons found not to be illegal detention, compensation claim dismissed by court

Attendance pursuant to a summons under the Central Goods and Services Tax regime does not, by itself, amount to illegal detention where statutory summons power is exercised by an authorised officer and statutory safeguards are observed; Order XVI C.P.C. witness list procedures do not impose a seven day notice requirement on administrative inquiries under that statutory power. The material showed acknowledged service, voluntary attendance, possession of personal items, absence of contemporaneous objection, and subsequent production before a Magistrate, and on that basis the claim for compensation for detention during the inquiry period was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the period during which the person attended for inquiry (17.06.2025 to 20.06.2025) pursuant to summons under Section 70 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act amounts to illegal detention entitling the person to compensation.

Analysis: Section 70 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act empowers a proper officer to summon any person for inquiry in the manner provided for a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure; the provision contains no express requirement of seven days' prior notice. Order XVI C.P.C. relates to trial-stage witness lists and summons procedure and is not directly applicable to administrative or pre-arrest inquiries under Section 70. Precedents establish that a person summoned under Section 70 is not per se an accused and that Courts exercising judicial review in proceedings under special tax statutes must confine review to whether statutory and constitutional safeguards (such as authorized officer status, existence of material forming belief, and informing of grounds of arrest) were complied with, rather than reappraising the sufficiency of the investigative material. The material on record showed acknowledged service of summonses, attendance on the specified dates without objection, possession and use of personal mobile phones while at the GST office, and no contemporaneous complaint of detention; arrest was recorded and produced before a Magistrate on 21.06.2025.

Conclusion: The period spent pursuant to summons under Section 70 from 17.06.2025 to 20.06.2025 did not constitute illegal detention and no compensation is warranted; the petition claiming compensation is dismissed.

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