ORDER :

An interim order is the cause of this review petition. By the interim order, this Court directed release of goods that were the subject matter of proceedings for confiscation under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (for brevity ‘the Act’). A review petition against the interim order is preferred by the State Tax Officer, leading to seminal questions on the scope and ambit of the powers of release of goods while the confiscation proceedings are going on.

2. The primary question for consideration is whether section 130(2) of the Act contemplates the release of goods by payment of fine in lieu of confiscation, even before orders of confiscation are issued. In addition, an incidental question that arises is on the quantum payable as fine in lieu of confiscation.

3. The genesis of the dispute emerges from an inspection conducted by the officers of the Kerala State GST Department on 03-08-2021, who seized, as per Rule 139(2) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, (for brevity ‘the Rules’), beedis, stored by the respondent in this review petition in his d