GSTAT says Excess Stock Alone Cannot Justify Confiscation under Section 130

GSTAT Lucknow dismissed the Revenue's appeal against the setting aside of confiscation proceedings initiated under Section 130 of the CGST/UPGST Acts. The Tribunal found that the alleged excess stock was based on visual estimation and inconsistent physical verification records, without independent evidence of clandestine procurement, unaccounted production or deliberate tax evasion. It reiterated that confiscation is an extraordinary power requiring the statutory ingredients to be independently established, andcannot be used as an alternative to the regular assessment mechanism.