Kerala High Court Exempts Vehicle From E-Way Bill, Categorizing It As 'Used Personal Effects'

Kerala High Court Exempts Vehicle From E-Way Bill, Categorizing It As 'Used Personal Effects'

The Court considered a similar case of the past in which it was held that used vehicles, even if it had run only negligible distances, are to be categorized as 'used personal effects' and exempted from E-way bill requirement during transportation

The Kerala High Court upheld the order of the single-judge court, which exempted the vehicle from E-way bill by categorizing it as 'used personal effects' under the Rule 138(14) (a) of the Kerala Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017.

A Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam, comprising Justices S.V. Bhatti and Bechu Kurian Thomas dealt with this matter titled Assistant State Tax Officer (Intelligence) v VST And Sons (P) Limited And Anr.

The issue raised in this petition was with regards to the detention of the 'Range Rover' vehicle belonging to the Respondent while being transported from Coimbatore to Thiruvananthapuram on the allegation that the same was transported without the E-way bill as contemplated under Rule 138 of Kerala Goods and Service Tax Rules, 2017. This matter was dealt with by a single-judge court of the Kerala High Court who ruled in favour of the Respondent. Therefore, the present petition was preferred by the Respondent – Assistant State Tax Officer challenging the order of the single-judge court.

The Court considered the following judgement which was similar to the present matter in which it was held that used vehicles, even if it had run only negligible distances, are to be categorized as 'used personal effects'.

• KUN Motor Company Private Limited and Others v the Assistant State Tax Officer, Squad No.3 Kerala State, Goods and Service Tax Department and Others [(2019) 60 GSRT 144 (Kerala)].

The Court observed that the only reason stated for detaining the vehicle was that it was transported without the e-way bill. The Court reminded that the goods are classifiable as 'used personal and household effect' fall under the Rule 138(14) (a) of the Kerala Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 and they are exempted from the requirement of e-way bill. The Court further noted that the vehicle had in fact run only 43 km.

The Court, therefore, upheld the order of the single-judge court and dismissed the present petition.