Wrong destination is not a Ground for Imposing Penalty under GST

The High Court of Telangana has held that penalties imposed under GST laws cannot be levied on the grounds of ‘wrong destination’ and any action of collecting penalty under threat of detention of the vehicle carrying goods for such an absurd reason is arbitrary and violative of Articles 14, 265 and 300-A of the Constitution of India. The petitioner approached the High Court of Telangana after being detained at Jeedimetla while returning from Karnataka even though the petitioner was carrying all requisite documents. The petitioner was served a notice under Section 129 (3) of the CGST Act, 2017 alleging ‘wrong destination’ and imposed penalty accordingly. The petitioner further contended that the said collection of tax and penalty by the respondents is through coercion and threat despite carrying all documents. The High Court of Telangana observed that there were no valid reasons for the detention of the vehicle and the goods when the movement of the goods was inter-State in nature and the provisions of the SGST were not shown to have been violated. As such a litigant cannot be coerced by the Government to make a payment of duties on the grounds of wrong destination.