TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (3) TMI 697
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....forthwith release truck no.GJ-12-AZ-5184 along with the goods contained therein by quashing and setting aside the action of detention; (C) Pending notice, admission and final hearing of the Petition, this Hon'ble Court may be please to direct the Respondent authorities to forthwith release truck no. GJ-12-AZ-5184 along with the goods contained therein; (D) Ex-parte ad interim relief in terms of prayer C may kindly be granted; (E) Such other and further relief/s as may be deemed just in the facts and circumstances of the present case may kindly be granted." 3. We take note of the order, passed by a coordinate Bench of this Court, dated 9th October, 2019, which reads thus: "1. Mr.Apurva N. Mehta, learned advocate for the petitioner has submitted that in this case, due to inadvertence out of three vehicles, in case of one vehicle e-way bill was not generated. It was pointed out that in this case, the goods in question viz. marble, were imported from Italy and at the time of import thereof, the integrated goods and services tax payable thereon was already paid. It was submitted that therefore, there was no liability on the part of the petitioner to pay any further int....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....t the recent pronouncement of this Court in the case of Synergy Fertichem Pvt.Ltd V/s. State of Gujarat [Special Civil Application No.4730 of 2019]. It shall be open for the writ applicant to rely on the observations made by this Court in paragraph Nos.99 to 104 of the said judgment, which read thus: "99.It is practically impossible to envisage various types of contravention of the provisions of the Act or the Rules for the purpose of detention and seizure of the goods and conveyances in transit. The contravention could be trivial or it may be quite serious sufficient enough to justify the detention and seizure. This litigation is nothing but an outburst on the part of the dealers that practically in all cases of detention and seizure of goods and conveyance, the authorities would straightway invoke Section 130 of the Act and thereby would straightway issue notice calling upon the owner of the goods or the owner of the conveyance to show-cause as to why the goods or the conveyance, as the case may be, should not be confiscated. Once such a notice under Section 130 of the Act is issued right at the inception, I.e, right at the time of detention and seizure, then the provisions of....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....e are trying to convey is that in a given case, the contravention may be quite trivial or may not be of such a magnitude which by itself would be sufficient to take the view that the contravention was with the necessary intent to evade payment of tax. 102. In such circumstances, referred to above, we propose to take the view that in all cases, without any application of mind and without any justifiable grounds or reasons to believe, the authorities may not be justified to straightway issue a notice of confiscation under Section 130 of the Act. For the purpose of issuing a notice of confiscation under Section 130 of the Act at the threshold, I.e,. at the stage of Section 129 of the Act itself, the case has to be of such a nature that on the face of the entire transaction, the authority concerned is convinced that the contravention was with a definite intent to evade payment of tax. We may give one simple example. The driver of the vehicle is in a position to produce all the relevant documents to the satisfaction of the authority concerned as regards payment of tax etc., but unfortunately, he is not able to produce the e-way bill , which is also one of the important documents so f....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....n 130 of the Act at the threshold, I.e., at the stage of detention and seizure. What we are trying to convey is that for the purpose of invoking Section 130 of the Act at the very threshold, the authorities need to make out a very strong case. Merely on suspicion, the authorities may not be justified in invoking Section 130 of the Act straightway. If the authorities are of the view that the case is one of invoking Section 130 of the Act at the very threshold, then they need to record their reasons for such belief in writing, and such reasons recorded in writing should, thereafter, be looked into by the superior authority so that the superior authority can take an appropriate decision whether the case is one of straightway invoking Section 130 of the Act. Any opinion of the authority to be formed is not subject to objective test. The language of Section 130 of the Act leaves no room for the relevance of an official examination as to the sufficiency of the ground on which the authority may act or proceed for the purpose of confiscation at the very threshold. But, at the same time, there must be material based on which alone the authority could form its opinion in good faith that it h....