The Karnataka High Court in its recent ruling in the case of M/s Hemanth Motors has held that validity of E-way bill should be extended where goods reached destination before expiry of E-way Bill but could not be unloaded immedietely.
Facts of the Case:
- The petitioner, Hemanth Motors a dealer in TVS motor vehicles and an assessee registered under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, purchased two-wheeler vehicles from a wholesale dealer under the tax invoice, and the motor vehicles purchased were dispatched from Hosur, Tamil Nadu to the place of destination after generating the corresponding e-way bills.
- The e-way bills were valid from December 31, 2018, 10:37 pm to January 1, 2019.
- The respondent authority visited the petitioner’s premises and issued an order for physical verification culminating in notice under the provisions of Section 129(3) of the Act and the other relevant provisions.
- The petitioner is also served with demand. The petitioner ensured transportation of the vehicles under appropriate e-way bills that were valid from December 31, 2018, at 10.37 pm to January 1, 2019.
- The petitioner contends that the conveyance carrying the vehicles reached the place of destination on January 1, 2019, before the expiry of the validity of the e-way bills but the vehicles could not be unloaded on the same day and were being unloaded on January 2, 2019.
- The authorities while not disputing these assertions contend that the e-way bills had to be valid even at the time of the inspection as the vehicles were being unloaded from the conveyance.
Ruling of Karnataka High Court:
The single-judge bench of Justice Shyam Prasad held that the appellate authority should have considered the merits of the proceedings against the petitioners in the light of the provisions of Rule 138(10) of the CGST Rules, 2017 which prescribes the validity of an e-way bill with the extension of further period by eight hours after the expiry.
The failure to consider the petitioner’s case in the light of the provisions of Rule 138(10) of the CGST Rules, 2017 has resulted in an improper and untenable order.
READ / DOWNLOAD ORDER:
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Frah Saeed is a law graduate specializing in the core field of indirect taxes and is the Co-founder of taxwallah.com. She has authored many publications on GST and is into full-time consultancy on GST to big corporates. She as a part of taxwallah.com heads a team comprising of Chartered Accountants and Advocates and plays a key role in our mission to disseminate GST knowledge to all.
