Penalty not justified for mere expiry of E- Way bill when all other documents in order

Penalty not justified for mere expiry of E- Way bill when all other documents in order

Eway bill is an electronically generated document mandatory, to be carried for movement of goods across India. It is necessary for the movement of goods worth more than Rs. 50,000 with some Expectation.

A unique E-way bill number (EBN) would be generated for each such consignment to be transported. The validity of this EBN depends on the distance of the transportation of goods.

To enforce this rule, authorized officers may be instructed to intercept any vehicle at certain check posts for the verification of necessary documents. Additionally, physical verification of the vehicle may be carried out on receiving specific inputs regarding tax evasion.

Consequences of not carrying the E-way bill:

The consequences of not generating & carrying the E-way Bill can result in both monetary and non-monetary losses to the taxpayer.

Rule 138(10) says that validity of e-way bill may be extended within 8 hours from the time of its expiry but in the instant cases the vehicle was practically apprehended in almost 08 to 09 hours of the expiry of the e-way bill, prima facia it appears that, the appellant has been not given reasonable opportunity to update the Part-A of e-way bill.

. GROUNDS OF APPEAL:

i) Complete documents as envisaged under the statute were Act, accompanied by the vehicle. E-way-bill was duly generated and even at the time of expiry of the same majority distance was covered by the vehicle. The delay in completion of the journey was caused only due to reasons beyond the control of the appellant.

ii) That the vehicle in question carrying the goods at the time of detection was stationary for quite some time as the driver had visited his native place and was trying his best to contact the transport company to update about his location and delay in reaching the destination.

iii)That the present transaction is an Interstate transaction and IGST is payable and paid thus demand and penalty of equal amount is even otherwise, is not legally sustainable as the provisions provide for action only when there is evidence of non-payment of the tax at first hand.

 Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, where any person transports any goods or stores any goods while they are in transit in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, all such goods and conveyance used as a means of transport for carrying the said goods and documents relating to such goods and conveyance shall be liable to detention or seizure and after detention or seizure………

Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, if any person—

Supplies or receives any goods in contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder with intent to evade payment of tax; or

 does not account for any goods on which he is liable to pay tax under this Act; or

 Supplies any goods liable to tax under this Act without having applied for registration; or

Contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder with intent to evade payment of tax; or

 Uses any conveyance as a means of transport for carriage of goods in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder unless the owner of the conveyance proves that it was so used without the knowledge or connivance of the owner himself, his agent, if any, and the person in charge of the conveyance.