Search Proceedings to Be Quashed if No Reasons to Believe Were Noted in INS-01 | Allahabad HC

Case Details: Excellentvision Technical Academy (P.) Ltd. v. State of U.P. - [2024] 163 taxmann.com 555 (Allahabad)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Shekhar B. Saraf, j.
• Aditya Pandey & Bipin Kumar Pandey for the Petitioner.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was aggrieved by the search and seizure order and subsequent proceedings wherein notice was issued. It filed writ petition and contended that the authorities never complied with the mandatory provision of Section 67 of the CGST Act, 2017 as the Joint Commissioner, while granting the authorisation for search and seizure, never put forth the reasons to believe that the search was necessary.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the search was carried out on January 4, 2018, however there were two INS-01 issued on two different dates; one on February 11, 2019 and another on January 4, 2018 (date of search). It became clear that INS-01 issued on February 11, 2019 was subsequent to search and was, therefore, an invalid document. With regard to other INS-01 that had been issued on date of search, it further appeared that no reasons to believe had been noted in same. In fact, this document was provided to petitioner upon petitioner making an application and it appeared to be fabricated and created as an afterthought. Therefore, the Court held that entire proceedings that had originated from illegal search and seizure carried out under Section 67 were to be quashed and set aside.