Goods seized due to mismatch in delivery challan & e-way bill to be released on furnishing bank guarantee & bond

Goods seized due to mismatch in delivery challan & e-way bill to be released on furnishing bank guarantee & bond
The Competent Authority of the Kerala Goods and Services Tax Department had detained 800 set-top boxes of the assessee under transport on the ground that there was a mismatch between the delivery challan and the e-way bill inasmuch as the value of set-top boxes noted in the e-way bill was Rs. 10 lakhs, whereas in the delivery challan it was Rs. 3.20 lakhs. He directed that the set-top boxes be released on the assessee depositing both the tax and penalty covering all the 800 set-top boxes.

On writ petition, the assessee contended that the e-way bill had correctly reflected the value of the set-top boxes. But in the delivery challan the set-top boxes were shown in two lots. The first lot comprised of 200 boxes and the value was shown as Rs. 3.20 lakhs. The second lot comprised of 600 set-top boxes and on account of a computer error the value of said set-top boxes was shown as zero.

The Competent Authority’s demand on the assessee to comply with section 129(1)(a) cannot be faulted. At any rate, the Competent Authority’s insisting on both the penalty and tax covering all the set-top boxes cannot be sustained. To be specific, the assessee has already shown in the delivery challan 200 set-top boxes and mentioned its value as well. So for the remaining boxes, i.e., 600, the cost was not reflected. Subject to further adjudication of the issue before the Competent Authority, the assessee could provide a bank guarantee and personal bond under section 129(1)(a) for the amount to be confined to the 600 set-top boxes.