GST confiscation ends Section 129 relief; challenge to detention order alone cannot secure release after title vests in Government.

Once confiscation under the GST Act was ordered and title in the goods and conveyance vested in the Government, the Section 129 detention and release mechanism ceased to be available. The dispute then had to be pursued under Section 130, including issues of confiscation, valuation, tax, penalty and fine, through the statutory appellate route under Section 107. A writ petition confined only to the earlier detention order could not secure release of the goods on payment of a percentage of value after confiscation had already taken effect, and the direction releasing the goods was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether, after an order of confiscation under the GST Act had already been passed and title to the goods and conveyance had vested in the Government, the writ petition could still challenge only the earlier detention order under Section 129 and secure release of the goods and conveyance on payment of a percentage of value.

Analysis: Section 129 governs detention, seizure and release of goods and conveyances in transit, while Section 130 deals with confiscation and penalty. Once confiscation is ordered under Section 130 and title vests in the Government under sub-section (5), the mechanism under Section 129 is no longer available. In that situation, the dispute as to confiscation, valuation, tax, penalty and fine is to be addressed under Section 130 and the statutory appellate route under Section 107, not by challenging only the prior detention order. The direction granting release of the goods despite the subsisting confiscation order therefore amounted to modification of an order that had already vested title in the State.

Conclusion: The challenge confined to the detention order was not maintainable after confiscation, and the order directing release of the goods and conveyance was unsustainable. The appeal succeeded in favour of the Revenue.

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