Imposing penalty harsh for mere expiry of E-Way bill when all other documents in order

14. In the instant appeal cases the goods were consigned from Thelkoloi , Odisha to Anni , Kullu , Himachal Pradesh and travelled a distance of around 2000 kilometers . The goods were accompanied by proper documents transshipped into another vehicle at Chandigarh and the vehicle no. was updated by the appellant and e-way bill was valid at the time of transshipment of the vehicle on 20.11.2018 The validity of the e-way bill expired on midnight of 20.11.2018 and the vehicle was inspected and detained by the respondent at early morning on 21.11.2018. The vehicle was stationary and parked by the road side and driver was called on telephonically and proceedings were initiated u/s 129(1) for expiry of validity of e-way bill. There was no discrepancies either with regard to other documents accompanied the consignment or with the quantity of goods being transported

15. 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, primafacie it appears that, the appellant has been not given reasonable opportunity to update the Part-A of e-way bill. It was noted that Part-B of thee-way bill was duly filled which puts to rest on any doubts about the intention of the appellant to evade tax. Secon dly, Circular No. 64/38/2018-GST dated 14th of September 2018 issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and the circular of Government of Himachal Pradesh dated 13 03.2019 valid from 14 09 2018 clearly states in para no 3 as under,-

Imposing penalty harsh for mere expiry of E-Way bill when all other documents in order

16. that Section 68 of the CGST/HPGST Act read with rule 138-A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (hererafter referred to as ‘the CGST/HPGST Rules) required that the person incharge of a conveyance carrying any consignment of goods of value exceeding Rs. 50,000 should carry a copy of documents viz, invoice / bill of supply/ delivery challan / bill of entry and a valid e-way bill in physical or electronic form for verification. In case such person does not carry the mentioned documents, there Is no doubt a contravention of the provision of the law takes place and the provisions of Section 129 and Section 130 of the CGST/HPGST Act are invocable Further, it may be noted that the non-furnishing of information in Part-8 of FORM GST EWB-01 amounts to the e-way bill becoming not a valid documents for the movements of goods by road as per explanation (2) to rule 138 (3) of CGST/HPGST Rules, except in the case where the goods are transported for a distance of up to 50 kilometers within the state or Union terntory to or from the place of business of the transporter to the place of business of the consigner or the consignee, as the case may be

17 Therefore, it has been specifically mentioned that the non-furnishing of information in Part-B 01 of FORM GST EWB-01 amounts to the e-way bill becoming the not a valid document. It appears that e-way bill is in valid only if Part-B of E-way bill is not filled or a considerable time to update the Part -A of e-way bill has gone by

18 Similarly, the para no 5 of the circular says in case a consignment of goods Is accompanied with an invoice or any other specify document and also an e-way bill, proceeding u/s 129 of the GST Act may not be initiated. Therefore, in my opinion imposition of tax/ penalty by the respondent is harsh and unsustainable.

19 In the view of above circumstances the instant appeals are accepted and the order passed by Asst. Commissioner State Taxes & Excise -cum -Proper Officer, the Mall Road Circle, Shimla are set aside . Since the appellant has made minor procedural laps as required to follow under rule 138(10) therefore a penalty of Rs One thousand only (Rs- 1000/- IGST Act ) in each case is imposed on the tax payer under section 125 under the CGST/ HPGST Act 2017 in accordance to CBIC Circular No. 64/38/2018-GST, dated 14th Sep 2018 and the State Circular no. 12-25/2018-19-EXN-GST -(575) -6009 -6026 dated 13th March 2019 and may be recovered accordingly . The judgment in these cases was reserved on 18.12.2019 which is released today.

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Tags : Judgement, GST, Advance Ruling