Mandatory seven-day limitation for transit-goods penalty orders renders delayed detention penalties without jurisdiction under Section 129(3).
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....Section 129(3) of the CGST/KGST Act requires a proper officer to pass a penalty order within seven days of serving a detention notice for goods in transit. The use of "shall" is treated as mandatory because the provision governs coercive detention and seizure powers, even though no express consequence is specified for delay. A penalty order issued forty-seven days after notice was treated as beyond the prescribed limitation and without jurisdiction. The resulting penalty and appellate orders were set aside, with consequential release of the bank guarantee.....
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