The writ petitioner is a partnership firm engaged in jewelry
business. They are manufacturers and wholesalers. A surprise search
was conducted by the respondents 4 and 5 herein on 16.08.2023 under
Section 67(2) of the Central Good and Services Tax Act, 2017. The
officials seized gold ornaments weighing 3808.386 grams valued at
Rs.2,22,98,100/- and physical gold bullion weighing 5478.940 grams
valued at Rs.3,20,79,193/- on the ground that this excess stock was not
reflected in the petitioner’s book of accounts. The search officials were
not convinced or satisfied by the explanation preferred by the petitioner.
The seizure details were recorded in the form GST INS-02 on
16.08.2023. A seizure memo was also issued. While the petitioner
would claim that there were compelled to cough up Rs.32,62,640/-
towards tax liability in two installments ie., a sum of Rs.13,37,888/- and
Rs.19,24,752/- on 16.08.2023 and 17.08.2023 respectively, the
respondents contend that it was a voluntary payment made by the
petitioner after they realized that they were liable to pay the same.
