Merchant: Merchant not liable for fines for choosing circuitous route: High Court ruling | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: In the absence of law, a merchant cannot be faulted for taking a circuitous route instead of a linear one in variance with what he/she has stated to the authorities in documents as long as the travel time and the destination remain the same, the high court said. “As the law now stands in Karnataka, a merchant or his convoy is free to choose the route for movement of goods from the point of origin to the destination. If he has specified a particular route in the consignment documents, it would not come in the way of that route being altered, though the destination cannot be,” the bench said.On December 2, 2021, officers intercepted a conveyance of M/s Transway India Transport, Bengaluru, at Bommasandra industrial area, about 20km from the state capital. The goods from Mumbai were to be delivered to several consignees in the city. However, the authorities slapped a tax liability of Rs 3,25423 coupled with a penalty of Rs 21,41,239 on the company under Section 129(3) of the GST Act-2017 for “transportation and diversion of goods beyond the place of destination.”The company challenged the order, claiming that it had necessary permission to move towards Peenya industrial area but the driver took a wrong turn towards Bommasandra industrial area. On June 23, 2022, a single bench had quashed the levy of tax and penalty. The department appealed against the order. However, the division bench noted that the right to movement whether by foot, cart, boat, aircraft or on a horseback, is constitutionally guaranteed to the citizens as a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(d) and ordinarily avails to the merchants too when they carry goods for trade. “It is open to a trader to take goods to the destination point in whichever route he opts, unless the law otherwise requires it, the destination point being intact. Such a right needs to be recognised as of necessity to trade or business,” the bench noted.“What is required by law is the furnishing of consignment documents and specified particulars of the consignor, consignee, goods, route maps and destinations. When law does not require giving reasons for changing the route, whether the reason offered by the driver is true or false, pales into insignificance. However, this does not mean that a driver can lie with impunity, the motto Satyameva Jayate having been inscribed in our national emblem i.e., Ashoka Sthamba,” the bench added.