Section 131 - Confiscation or penalty not to interfere with other punishments
Chapter XIX - Offences and Penalties
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Finin2min Summary - Section in 2 Minutes
Clarifies that confiscation or civil penalty does not bar prosecution or other punishment where the law independently permits it.
Exact operative text
131. Confiscation or penalty not to interfere with other punishments.-Without prejudice to the
provisions contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), no confiscation made or penalty
imposed under the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder shall prevent the infliction of any other
punishment to which the person affected thereby is liable under the provisions of this Act or under any other
law for the time being in force.
Paragraph-wise decode
Clarifies that confiscation or civil penalty does not bar prosecution or other punishment where the law independently permits it.
Section-Rule-Form-Notification bridge
No direct Rule certified in Phase 1. Check notifications, circulars, forms and corresponding State law.
The mapping is a legal concordance, not a round-robin related-link list. It is limited to instruments certified in this phase.
Practical example
A civil confiscation order is passed, but evidence also supports prosecution. Section 131 prevents the civil consequence from automatically ending the criminal case.
Professional alert
Read the provision with its linked Rules, Gazette commencement, delegation, State GST counterpart and binding judicial interpretation before applying it to a live case.
Implementation checklist
- Fix the transaction, taxable period and jurisdiction.
- Read every subsection, proviso, explanation and omission marker.
- Open the mapped Rule, form, notification and circular.
- Test State/UT variation and portal version.
- Preserve evidence, approvals, working papers and acknowledgements.
- Record the conclusion, assumptions, source date and reviewer.
Evidence and retention checklist
- Contract, purchase order, invoice or underlying transaction document.
- Registration, return, ledger, challan and portal acknowledgement.
- Official Act/Rule/notification version used and effective date.
- Internal tax position paper, computation and management approval.
- Correspondence, notices, replies, orders and appeal papers where applicable.
Practical Q&A
- What does section 131 regulate?
- It regulates confiscation or penalty not to interfere with other punishments. Read the exact text, conditions, exceptions and transaction date together.
- Which subordinate law should be checked?
- No direct CGST Rule has been certified in this phase. Notifications, circulars, forms and the corresponding SGST/UTGST layer may also apply.
- What evidence should be retained?
- Preserve the contract or transaction record, invoice or form, portal acknowledgement, payment/ledger evidence, correspondence, legal working and the official source version used.
- Can portal behaviour override the statute?
- No. Portal functionality is operational evidence; legal entitlement and liability remain controlled by the Act, Rules, notifications and binding decisions.