The Gujarat High Court has ruled that undervaluation of goods under transit and divergence of route from the one declared in e-way bills cannot by themselves be grounds for GST authorities to confiscate items.
Mere change of route without anything more would not necessarily be sufficient to infer an intention to evade tax, the court ruled.
Similarly, mere undervaluation of goods is not sufficient grounds for detaining the goods and vehicle. This order was passed on a writ petition against a confiscation notice given by a tax commissioner in Ahmedabad.
“We find that merely (from) the direction preferred by the petitioners for delivery of consignment to the place destined for, an inference cannot be drawn with regard to the intention of the petitioners to evade tax,” it said.
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