Goods not Accompanied by Invoice or E-way Bill upon Interception: Allahabad HC upholds Penalty Orders u/s 129(3) of GST Act

The Allahabad High Court dismissed the writ petition by M/s Akhilesh Traders, upholding penalty orders under Section 129(3) of the GST Act. The petition challenged the penalty for transporting goods without an E-Way bill or invoice, which were only produced after interception. \r

The petitioner argued based on previous judgments that no penalty should apply if documents are produced before the detention order. However, the respondent countered that post-April 2018, E-Way Bills are mandatory. Justice Shekhar B. Saraf ruled that missing mandatory documents indicated possible tax evasion, shifting the burden of proof to the assessee, who failed to rebut the presumption of evasion. \r

The court upheld the penalty to ensure GST compliance and dismissed the petition.