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SHEKHAR B. SARAF
Spirare Energy Pvt Ltd – Appellant
Versus
State of U. P. – Respondent
JUDGMENT
Shekhar B. Saraf, J.
Heard Sri. Vedant Agarwal, learned counsel holding brie of Sri. Rahul Agarwal and the learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel appearing on behalf of the State.
2. This is a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, wherein the petitioner is aggrieved by the order dated February 22, 2020 passed by the Additional Commissioner, Grade- 2 (Appeal)-I, State Goods and Services Tax, Agra dismissing the appeal filed by the petitioner and the order in original dated September 8, 2019.
3. Upon perusal of the record, it appears that apart from an error with regard to the address of the consignee in the E-Way Bill, there were no other issues with the said consignment. The invoice contained the address, the goods matched the description in the invoice and all other materials were intact. The imposition of tax is only on the basis of a technical error with regard to address of the consignee that was wrongly written the E-Way Bill. The authorities have not been able to indicate any mens rea on the part of the petitioner for evasion of tax.
4. In a catena of judgments, this Court has held that presence of mens rea for evasion of tax is a sine qua n
A technical error in tax documentation does not justify penalty without evidence of intent to evade tax.
The imposition of tax penalties requires proof of mens rea; mere technical errors do not justify penalties.
Mens rea is essential for imposing penalties under tax laws; technical faults without intent to evade tax should not attract penalties.
A technical error in documentation without intent to evade tax does not justify penalty under the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Service Tax Act.
Imposition of penalty for minor breaches of tax regulations or procedural requirements under the GST Act should consider the nature of the mistake and the circular issued by the Ministry of Finance.
Penalties should be reserved for cases where there is a demonstrated actual intent to evade tax, and technical errors without potential financial implications should not be grounds for imposition of ....
Technical violations without intent to evade tax do not justify penalties under the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act.
A penalty under Section 129(3) of the Act requires proof of mens rea for tax evasion, which was absent in this case, leading to the quashing of the penalty orders.
Non-filling of Part 'B' of e-Way Bill does not warrant penalty under Section 129(3) without evidence of intent to evade tax.
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